During and following drought conditions which may occur from time to time, the supply of water available to the Water Treatment Plant of the City may become significantly and seriously depleted so that there will not then be a sufficient supply of water to meet the customary and usual demand indefinitely. Under those conditions, the Council may find and declare, by resolution, a public emergency water shortage, during which time it may require any or all of the water conservation methods set forth in Section 93.02 of this chapter for the purpose of producing an orderly and equitable curtailment of water consumption until, by resolution, the Council finds and declares the water shortage emergency to be ended. The Council may specifically authorize by resolution any of the water conservation measures set forth in Section 93.02 and, in addition or in the alternative, may authorize the Mayor or City Manager, or both, to designate by proclamation which water conservation measures or additional water conservation measures shall apply.
The Council, by resolution, or the Mayor or City Manager, by proclamation, if authorized, may select from among the following water conservation measures:
1. There may be voluntary water usage restrictions on the following activities:
A. Watering of established residential lawns, gardens, plants, trees, or shrubs, including but not limited to a total ban on such watering, alternate-day watering, or watering limited to, but not more than, a certain amount of watering within a certain specified period of time or within a particular time frame. In this connection, if circumstances so permit, restrictions may also be varied as between lawns, gardens, plants, trees and shrubs and restrictions may be varied as between established lawns and plantings, as compared to new seeding or sod or new plantings. The newly planted lawns, gardens, seeding, sod, and plantings may be exempt for a period of five (5) weeks.
B. Residential swimming pool filling.
C. Residential vehicle washing.
D. All inside residential water usage which is not absolutely necessary.
E. All commercial water usage which is not absolutely necessary.
F. Requested timing adjustments (hours of the day and/or alternative days) for all of the items listed above.
G. Water served at restaurants.
H. Washing the streets, parking lots, driveways, and sidewalks.
I. Ornamental fountains.
J. Hydrant flushing.
K. Washing the outside of buildings.
L. Nonessential construction water usage.
M. Public entity (City, County, school) nonessential water usage.
2. There may be involuntary required water usage restrictions or complete prohibitions against the following activities:
A. Established residential lawns, gardens, plants, shrubs, and trees.
B. Newly planted (less than 5 weeks) residential lawns, gardens, plants, shrubs, and trees.
C. Residential swimming pool filling, private swimming pools, children’s wading pools, or any other indoor or outdoor pool of any kind or description.
D. Residential vehicle washing.
E. Commercial vehicle washing establishments.
F. Public entity (City, County or school) nonessential water usage.
G. Time restrictions (hours of the day and/or days of the week) for any and all of the items listed above.
H. Water served at restaurants.
I. Washing streets, parking lots, driveways, or sidewalks,
J. Ornamental fountains.
K. Hydrant flushing.
L. Washing the outside of buildings.
M. Construction water usage.
N. Tank-load water sales by City.
O. Temporary water rate surcharge to curb use.
3. Each customer may be required to achieve a particular percentage reduction in water usage as compared to a prior period usage and be subject to the payment of a premium rate over and above the normal rate in the event such percentage reduction is not achieved. The amount of percentage reduction and the base period for comparison purposes shall be established by resolution or proclamation as previously set forth. The premium rate shall be as set forth in Section 93.03 of this chapter.
4. The Council (but not the Mayor or City Manager) may set a base allocation for every customer of the water system and, if the consumption of a particular customer exceeds the base allocation, that customer shall pay, in addition to the regular rate for water consumption, the premium rate set forth in Section 93.04 for unrestrained consumption.
1. Base Allocation. In the event that the Council establishes a base allocation by resolution, any customer of the water system may file an appeal with the City Manager to adjust the base allocation amount. The City Manager may grant an adjustment to the appellant based on the following criteria:
A. For single-family residential use, the base allocation may be increased to 200 cubic feet per person per billing period for all individuals residing at the appellant’s residence for a period of more than 30 days.
B. For commercial, industrial, institutional, or other residential use, the base allocation may be increased based upon facts appropriate to the individual customer, such as, for example, the average of the water bill during the previous winter (November through April), production, service, or occupancy data provided by the customer.
2. Premium Rate Charges. Any customer may file for adjustment of the premium rate charges for unrestrained water consumption with the City Manager. The City Manager may grant an adjustment of the premium rate charges in accordance with the following criteria:
A. The cause of the high consumption must be mechanical in nature (such as broken or leaky pipes or fixtures) rather than human carelessness or apparent disregard of this chapter.
B. The customer shall furnish proof that the mechanical failure was repaired promptly. This should be in the form of a licensed plumber’s invoice or statement or a materials receipt.
C. The adjustment may be granted only for the billing period prior to the correction of the failure.
D. For those accounts granted an adjustment of the premium rate charges, the minimum adjusted premium rate shall be a surcharge of ten percent (10%) of the normal rate in addition to the normal rate charged to the customer.
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