Whenever the Mayor of the city is informed by the City Manager that either the drinking water supply is limited or that a potential shortage of raw water supply is indicated, the Mayor shall be empowered to declare by adoption of this subchapter that voluntary conservation conditions exist. The Public Utilities Director shall monitor the supply and demand upon that supply. In addition, the Mayor (or City Manager or his or her designee) is authorized to call upon all water customers to employ voluntary water conservation measures as outlined in Addendum 1 to limit water use (especially Category 3: Non-Essential Uses) and eliminate the waste of water. The Declaration of Voluntary Conservation shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the area which qualifies under G.S. § 1-597, and may be publicized through the general news media, radio, cable TV, or any other appropriate method for making such information public. In the case of a drought, the trigger for the Declaration of Voluntary Conservation is reaching a water level of 51.5 feet Mean Sea Level (MSL) for seven consecutive days at the Neuse River intake structure.
(Ord. 2005-105, passed 11-21-05; Am. Ord. 2007-91, passed 10-25-07; Am. Ord. 2009-60, passed 8-3-09; Am. Ord. 2024-20, passed 5-20-24)