Merced aims for water meter grant

The city will attempt to ramp up its efforts to install water meters in thousands of homes in Merced after a vote from City Council on Tuesday, but getting the money to do so could be a difficult task.

With a unanimous vote during a council meeting, the council decided to apply for a $2.6 million grant from the state Department of Water Resources. Officials said the grant money is highly sought after, and the department only has about $19 million to award statewide.

City leaders said pushing the water meter effort forward is important because state law requires all water users to have meters by 2025.

About 10,800 accounts, which are mostly homes in Merced, pay a flat rate while about 10,100 are already metered. City staff said the flat-rate homes use more water on average than those with meters.

Michael Wegley, Merced’s director of water resources, said ideally the city would be able to install meters at no cost to homeowners. Public Works Department crews can do the work, he said, so there would be no cost to hire contractors.

“Water meters (are) the single biggest factor in water conservation,” he said.

City staff said the application for the grant is due by March, and the city should know by summer if it is awarded the cash.

Leah Brown, the city’s water conservation specialist, said businesses, schools, parks and churches in town already have meters. Only homes remain without meters.

Water use is measured in hundred cubic feet. Metered homes get 30 hundred cubic feet – or about 22,400 gallons – per month, and are charged an additional 87 cents for every hundred cubic feet they go over their allotment.

The meter can recognize “the smallest flow,” Brown said, so it can measure the water dripping from a leaky faucet. The meters also report water use to a cloud-based computer system, so users can track water use online.

“They can monitor that and help change behavior, look into leaks (or) cut back,” she said.

Water conservation has been on the minds of many in the state, and especially those in Central Valley towns where agriculture brings in revenue. Many cities, including Merced, have already clamped down on water-wasters by shrinking the hours to sprinkle a lawn. Merced went as far as to require car wash fundraisers to be held in a facility that recycles water.

Most agriculture producers and processors are exempt from water restrictions.

Councilman Mike Murphy said if the city doesn’t get the grant, it can’t “push the pause button” on efforts to meter all homes.

The city needs to make progress. “We’ve been talking about this for some time,” he said.

This story was originally published January 21, 2015 at 12:02 PM with the headline "Merced aims for water meter grant."