Moorestown Council To Introduce Water Preservation Ordinance Monday Night

Moorestown, NJ -- Moorestown Council will consider changes to its water conservation ordinance when it meets Monday night, 7 p.m. at town hall.

• District 1: Sunday and Wednesday
• District 2: Monday and Thursday
• District 3: Monday and Thursday
• District 4: Tuesday and Friday

Watering will only be permitted 5 a.m. and 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Flowers and shrubs may be watered as needed with a hand-held hose equipped with an automatic shut-off nozzle, but no hose or hose-end watering shall be permitted when it is raining.

Vehicles may be washed any day with a handheld hose equipped with an automatic shut-off nozzle.

Automatic rain sensor devices are required for all sprinkler and/or irrigation systems to ensure that watering does not occur during periods of rain or immediately after a quarter inch of rain has fallen.

The proposed ordinance includes the following exemptions:

1. Outdoor water use from private wells, rain water harvesting, gray water or reclaimed water are exempt from the provisions of this section. Use of gray or reclaimed water must have an approved NJPDES permit issued through the NJDEP.

2. Outdoor water use for agricultural use, commercial farms producing harvestable crops, commercial nurseries, sod farms and golf courses.

3. Outdoor irrigation necessary for one day only where treatment with an application of chemicals require immediate watering to preserve an existing landscape or to establish a new landscape.

4. Outdoor irrigation necessary for the establishment of newly sodded lawns or landscaping within the first 21 consecutive days of planting.

5. Visually supervised operation of an irrigation system by a person in compliance with state law, at the minimum rate necessary in order to check system condition and effectiveness.

6. Any United States Environmental Protection Agency or New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection rule, regulation or declaration, which is more stringent than the provisions herein, shall supersede.

7. Any Declaration of a Water Emergency by the Township Manager and the provisions set forth in same shall supersede.

The changes are the result of an Administrative Consent Order (ACO) issued by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and approved by council on July 1, calling for the township to alter the way it imposes restrictions on water use by residents.

Moorestown currently only imposes restrictions in the summer, which is a violation of a now-terminated Memorandum of Agreement between the township and NJDEP.

The township must now limit those restrictions to twice a week, all year long.

The following ordinances will be up for a public hearing and final vote:

• Setting aside $280,000 and borrowing $266,000 for the purchase of police vehicles and equipment;
• Amendments to township ordinance concerning vehicles and traffic; and
• Setting aside $50,000 and borrowing $47,500 for the installation of new fencing at the Lenola Baseball Fields.

To view the full agenda, visit the agenda center at moorestown.nj.us.