SAN DIEGO MOVES TO MANDATORY WATER RESTRICTIONS

East County News Service

October 22, 2014 (San Diego)--By a unanimous vote, San Diego’s City Council has voted to impose mandatory water restrictions starting November 1^st.

The move aims to prevent a water supply shortage, since the drought has dropped local reservoirs to just 44 percent of capacity. The Metropolitan Water District, Southern California’s largest water wholesaler, has less than half of its usual water storage capacity available and the San Diego County Water Authority’s water storage is at just 37% of its normal capacity.

Under the mandatory water restrictions, residents in the city of San Diego will be required to:

Limit lawn water to three days a week,

Use hoses with shut-off nozzles or sprinklers on timers to water landscaping,

Wash gardens, fruit trees and potted plants before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m.,  and

Wash vehicles only before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m.

Watering lawns or plants on rainy days will be prohibited under the new rules.

Those who violate these rules may be sent a letter asking them to correct the issue and stop wasting water.  If nothing is done, a call or visit may be made to the property, after which code enforcement will be notified if the situation is not fixed.