City Council Declares Stage 2 Water Shortage, Enacts Mandatory Restrictions

From the city of San Juan Capistrano:

At its Tuesday meeting, the City Council adopted a Water Urgency Ordinance, and declared a Stage 2 shortage, in response to the governor’s executive order to strengthen the state’s ability to manage water and habitat effectively in drought conditions and the State Water Resources Control Board emergency regulation for statewide urban water conservation.

This regulation requires urban water suppliers to “implement all requirements and actions of the stage of its water shortage contingency plan that imposes mandatory restrictions on outdoor irrigation of ornamental landscapes or turf with potable water.” For the City of San Juan Capistrano, which is an urban water supplier, this means declaring and implementing Stage 2 of the City’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan (Stage 1 includes only voluntary restrictions).

With the implementation of Stage 2 of the City’s Water Shortage Contingency Plan, residents will be required to reduce outdoor water use by eliminating all non-essential uses of water, eliminating runoff, and eliminating the cleaning of sidewalks and/or structures with water from a hose.

Actions customers can take to save water and to stay within their allocation (tier 1 and tier 2) include watering less, adjusting sprinklers so they do not water driveways and sidewalks, setting irrigation systems to water at night or in the early morning hours, always using a shut-off nozzle with garden hoses, using a broom to clean driveways and sidewalks, planting California-friendly trees and plants, and reducing lawn size.

To keep informed of current and upcoming water conservation information please visit www.sanjuancapistrano.org and sign up for ENews, Facebook, and Twitter. If you have a question, call Francie Kennedy at (949) 234-4400.

PHOTO Patch file photo.