1. "Applicant" means the person, association, developer, corporation or governmental agency applying for water service.
2. "Applied water" means the portion of water supplied by the irrigation system to the landscape.
3. "Billing cycle" means the billing period in which the agency measures customer's water use for purposes of calculating the amount of the water service fees it shall collect for the water service provided.
4. "Billing unit" means the unit of water used to apply water rates for purposes of calculating water charges for a person's water usage and equals 1,000 gallons of water.
5. "Citizens Appeals Board" means a board consisting of not more than five members appointed by City Council to hear appeals concerning applications for relief or violations that a customer or water user cannot resolve with the Hearing Officer.
6. "Cost" means the actual cost to the Utility, including all labor, material, supplies, equipment and miscellaneous items, together with any applicable indirect and general charges, plus the general administrative overhead in accordance with the accounting practices of the Utility.
7. "Customer" means water user.
8. "Excessive water use penalty" means the administrative penalty the City may impose during Level 3, 4 or 5 as set forth in this chapter.
9. "Gray water" shall have the same meaning as in California Health and Safety Code 17922.12, as amended. In general, gray water may include untreated wastewater from bathtubs, showers, bathroom washbasins, clothes washing machines and laundry tubs but does not include wastewater from kitchen sinks or dishwashers.
10. "Hardscapes" means any durable material or feature (pervious and non-pervious) installed in or around a landscaped area such as pavements or walls. This chapter considers pools and other water features part of the landscaped area and not considered hardscapes for purposes of this Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance.
11. "Hearing Officer" means the person appointed by the City Manager at the utility level to resolve applications for relief.
12. "Landscaped area" means all the planting areas, turf areas and water features in a landscape design plan subject to the Maximum Applied Water Allowance and Estimated Applied Water Use calculations. The landscaped area does not include footprints of buildings or structures, sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, decks, patios, gravel or stone walks, other pervious or non-pervious hardscapes and other non-irrigated areas designated for non-development (e.g., open spaces and existing native vegetation).
13. "Metropolitan" means the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
14. "Non-pervious" means any surface or natural material that does not allow for the passage of water through the material and into the underlying soil.
15. "Permit" means an authorizing document issued by local agencies for new construction or rehabilitated landscape.
16. "Person" means any individual, group, developer or organization operating as a single entity.
17. "Pervious" means any surface or material that allows the passage of water through the material and into the underlying soil.
18. "Potable Water" means water that is suitable for drinking.
19. "Residential customer" means a single family or multi-family residential water user.
20. "Single pass cooling systems" means equipment where water circulates only once to cool equipment before disposal.
21. "Summer" means the water season that includes the months of April, May, June, July, August and September.
22. Turf means a ground cover surface of mowed grass. Annual bluegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, Perennial ryegrass, Red fescue and Tall fescue are cool-season grasses. Bermudagrass, Kikuyugrass, Seashore Paspalum, St. Augustinegrass, Zoysiagrass, and Buffalo grass are warm-season grasses.
23. "Utility" means the municipal water organization, its staff and the system serving the City.
24. "Utility rates, rules and regulations" means the rate structure of the Utility and any rules and regulations adopted by the City.
25. "Water customer" means the person in whose name service is rendered as evidenced by the signature on the application, contract or agreement for that service, or in the absence of a signed instrument, by the receipt and payment of bills regularly issued in their name, regardless of the identity of the actual user of the service.
26. "Water feature" means a design element where open water performs an aesthetic or recreational function. Water features include ponds, lakes, waterfalls, fountains, artificial streams, spas and swimming pools (where water is artificially supplied). The high water use hydrozone of the landscaped area includes the surface area of water features. Constructed wetlands used for on-site wastewater treatment, habitat protection or storm water best management practices not irrigated and used solely for water treatment or storm water retention are not water features and not subject to the water budget calculation.
27. "Water Shortage Emergency" means a condition existing within the City in which the City cannot satisfy the ordinary water demands and requirements of persons within the City without depleting the water supply of the City to the extent that insufficient water for human consumption, sanitation and fire protection would exist. A water shortage emergency includes both an immediate emergency, in which the City cannot meet current water needs within the City, as well as a threatened water shortage, in which the City determines that its supply cannot meet an increased future demand.
28. "Water user" means any user of water, including a water customer.
29. "Winter" means the water season that includes the months of October, November, December, January, February and March.
30. "WSCP" means the Water Shortage Contingency Plan adopted by City Council. (Ord. 3299 § 1 (part), 2021)