(A) Upon notification by the Drought Response Committee that a moderate drought condition is present and is expected to persist and/or upon determination by the city that a moderate water supply shortage exists based on trigger levels, the city will seek voluntary reductions from its customers in the use of water for all purposes and voluntary reductions on using water during certain peak water demand periods. Specifically, the goal during this phase is to achieve a reduction of 20% in residential water use and 15% in other water uses such as commercial, industrial, institutional and irrigation; and a reduction in overall water use of 15%.
(B) To accomplish this, the city will take the following actions:
(1) Issue a Proclamation to be released to local media, city’s customers and to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Drought Information Center that Moderate drought conditions are present.
(2) Provide written notification to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Drought Information Center and routinely publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the service area of the water system the voluntary conservation measures that the customers are requested to follow during moderate drought conditions, including:
(a) Reduce residential water use to 75 gallons per person per day and a maximum of 300 gallons per household per day;
(b) Eliminate the washing down of sidewalks, walkways, driveways, parking lots, tennis courts and other hard surfaced areas;
(c) Eliminate the washing down of buildings for purposes other than immediate fire protection;
(d) Eliminate the flushing of gutters;
(e) Eliminate the domestic washing of motorbikes, boats, cars, and the like;
(f) Eliminate the use of water to maintain fountains, reflection ponds and decorative water bodies for aesthetic or scenic purposes, except where necessary to support aquatic life;
(g) Reduce watering of lawns, plants, trees, gardens, shrubbery and flora on private or public property to the minimum necessary. Encourage outdoor watering to be done during off-peak hours;
(h) Reduce the amount of water obtained from fire hydrants for construction purposes, fire drills or for any purpose other than firefighting or flushing necessary to maintain water quality; and
(i) Limit normal water use by commercial and individual customers including, but not limited to, the following:
1. Stop serving water in addition to another beverage routinely in restaurants;
2. Stop maintaining water levels in scenic and recreational ponds and lakes, except for the minimum amount required to support aquatic life;
3. Cease water service to customers who have been given a ten-day notice to repair one or more leaks and have failed to do so;
(3) Intensify maintenance efforts to identify and correct water leaks in the distribution system.
(4) Cease to install new irrigation taps on the water system.
(5) Continue to encourage and educate customers to comply with voluntary water conservation.
(Ord. 29-03, passed 10-14-03)