El Toro Water Board Declares Level 1 Water Supply Storage, Restricts Outdoor Water Use

From a press release:

The El Toro Water District Board of Directors declared a Level 1 Water Supply Shortage Aug. 15 in response to the State Regional Control Board’s Emergency Conservation Regulations limiting outdoor water use.

Under a Level 1 Water Supply Shortage, lawn watering is limited to three days per week during the months of April through October. In the months of November through March, lawn watering is limited to one day during the week.

“The District recognizes and thanks its customers for taking measures to conserve water, but we need to do more in these extraordinary circumstances. We are in a serious drought,” said ETWD General Manager Bob Hill.

Effective Aug. 30, 2014, ETWD residents and businesses must comply with limited irrigation schedules based on their city of residence. Aliso Viejo and Mission Viejo are scheduled for Mon., Thu. and Sat. or Sun. Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods and Lake Forest are scheduled for Tue., Fri., and Sat. or Sun.

“These state mandates require the District’s compliance. We will work diligently to educate our customers about what this means – what we are doing, what they can do and how we can assist them in reducing their water usage.” said Hill.

In addition to the limited irrigation schedule, the SWRCB ordered four prohibited activities:

1. No direct application of potable (drinking) water to driveways and sidewalks.

2. No watering of outdoor landscapes that cause runoff to adjacent property, walkways, roadways, parking lots or structures.

3. Use of a hose to wash a vehicle, unless using a positive shut-off nozzle.

4. Use of potable water in a non-recirculating fountain/decorative water feature.

ETWD’s Permanent Mandatory Conservation Measures continue to be in effect. These measures include the four state prohibited activities along with limits on irrigation station run times and the time of day that you can irrigate.. In addition, residents will need to understand the importance of the Drought Factor or DF.

The Level 1 Water Supply Shortage declaration includes the option to adjust the DF, a critical part of the District’s progressive Water Budget Based Tiered Conservation Rate Structure and the monetary enforcement tool available to the District. A DF of less than one would reduce a customer’s allocated water budget and thus provide an accelerated pricing signal when excess water is used.

Electing to initially rely on enhanced education and outreach to achieve the District’s and State’s conservation goals the Board has maintained its DF level set at one. If necessary, and subject to a public hearing, the Board could consider adjusting the DF to further encourage conservation.

“Every gallon of water saved today will be a gallon of water in reserve for the future and will help avoid or defer more aggressive local, regional and/or statewide conservation mandates,” said Hill

For additional information on the drought, conservation measures, the Level 1 Water Supply Shortage Resolution and any applicable water usage exemptions, customers can visit the ETWD website atwww.etwd.com or call 949-837-0660.

Observed violations of prohibited water uses can be reported to district@etwd.com and/or 949-837-0660.

Rebates are offered to ETWD customers on select indoor and outdoor water saving devices and can be found at www.ocwatersmart.com.

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