As California’s drought drags on, officials are cracking down on thieves who wrench open fire hydrants and ignore or tamper with meters to access one of the state’s precious commodities — water.
In some cases, wells dry up and scofflaws start stealing water from hydrants. In other cases, trucks in need of water for dust control and construction tap hydrants without using meters that charge them. Sometimes people just help themselves to water from natural resources.
The East Bay Municipal Utility District — like many Bay Area water districts— has never fined people who steal or attempt to steal water.
Instead, repeat offenders have had their water turned off and been charged reconnection fees, the Contra Costa Times reported.
But now, water district board member John Coleman says the district should have a penalty greater than the cost of water. On March 10, the board will consider options for criminal penalties for tampering with district equipment or neighbors’ pipes.
Other places in the state also are grappling with water bandits:
— In the Silicon Valley, an open space district removed irrigation pipes that rangers say allowed a nudist colony to make unauthorized water diversions from a waterfall.
— In the Central Valley city of Modesto, several homeowners were fined $1,500 for allegedly taking water from a canal.
— In the Bay Area suburb of San Ramon, officials say a construction crew hooked up hoses to a fire hydrant and siphoned about 700 gallons of water last fall amid requests to stop.
— In the Sierra town of North San Juan, thieves hooked up their truck up to a valve on a fire department tank and stole hundreds of gallons of water.
http://www.scpr.org/news/2015/02/23/50010/water-thefts-on-the-rise-in-drought-stricken-calif/