Agoura Hills Residents Placed on 'Even/Odd' Rotation for Watering Lawns

From the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District:

In response to continuing drought conditions, the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District (LVMWD) Board of Directors has adopted an “even/odd” irrigation schedule for all district customers that takes effect immediately.

Under the new plan, customers with addresses ending in even numbers may only irrigate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Addresses ending in odd numbers may only irrigate on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Irrigation may not occur between 10 a.m. and 5 pm.; no irrigation is permitted on Sundays.

LVMWD General Manager David W. Pedersen said, “The new irrigation program seeks to reduce outdoor water use while maintaining a schedule that is sustainable for landscapes. We will begin enforcing this schedule on
Sept. 1, which will give customers ample time to reprogram automatic irrigation controllers. After that date, warning letters and fines for repeat offenders will be assessed.”

At the same meeting, the LVMWD Board increased the fines of up to $500 for repeat violations within a one-year period. The new schedule is consistent with drought regulations mandated by the State Water Resources Control Board in July.

The district urges customers to immediately reprogram their irrigation controllers, or replace them with newer programmable or “smart” weather-based controllers. If the instruction manual for a controller has been misplaced, most manufacturers make replacement manuals available for download at their respective websites.

The irrigation schedule applies to all potable and recycled water customers. Recycled water customers may be allowed a different irrigation schedule upon demonstration, through a site visit, that they are using water efficiently and achieving the same result as the watering restriction. These customers may contact the District to request a site visit at (818) 251-2200.

The district has also received a number of reports and photos at its “Stop the Waste” email address where anyone with a GPS-activated smartphone can take a photo of incidents such as water leaks, broken sprinkler heads or irrigation runoff and send the photo to stopthewaste@LVMWD.com. Upon receiving the emailed photo, or a written report, LVMWD will then contact the property owner to correct the problem. All reports
are kept confidential.

Las Virgenes MWD provides potable water, wastewater treatment, recycled water and biosolids composting services to residents of the cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Westlake Village and adjacent unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County.

PHOTO: Patch photo credit: Renee Schiavone.