(a) Whenever it appears to the Mayor or upon notice from the City of Cleveland, Division of Water and Heat of the Department of Public Utilities, to the Mayor or Safety or Service Director that a shortage of water supply exists or is imminent which threatens the public health and safety and that the shortage makes it necessary to curtail water use within all or any part of the City, the Mayor shall proclaim a water use emergency throughout all or any part of the City.
(b) During a water use emergency, the Mayor may order a water use curtailment by prohibiting unnecessary use or consumption of water during all or specified hours of the day and/or may order that specified premises curtail unnecessary use or consumption of water on specified days only as the Mayor determines to be necessary.
(c) A water use emergency proclamation shall specify:
(1) The geographic area affected by the water use emergency;
(2) The length of time the emergency shall be in effect, which time shall not exceed seven days; and
(3) The degree of water use curtailment.
(d) A proclamation of a water use emergency shall become effective at the time of issuance by the Mayor. Notice thereof shall be given to a newspaper of general circulation in the City and shall be reported to local radio and television stations for broadcast.
(e) As used in this section, “unnecessary use or consumption” means the use or consumption of water for purposes other than personal health, safety, sanitation and bodily consumption. “Unnecessary use or consumption” of water includes, but is not limited to, sprinkling or watering lawns, other land irrigation, the washing of automobiles, houses or other structures and the use of water for recreational purposes such as the maintenance of swimming pools. The use of water for private construction, such as the mixing and curing of concrete, the puddling of backfill in excavations, the moistening of masonry walls preparatory to pointing or sealing, and other similar uses, is not an unnecessary use or consumption of water. The use of water to scrub and rinse areas such as hard-surfaced drives, garage floors, patios and similar uses, where necessary for the purpose of sanitation and the protection of health, is not an unnecessary use and consumption of water. The use of water by means not directly connected to the water supply for sprinkling vegetable gardens or flower gardens is not an unnecessary use and consumption of water.
(f) No person or other entity shall, during a water use emergency, use water in violation of the terms and conditions of the Mayor's water use emergency proclamation.
(g) Whoever violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor for a first offense and a misdemeanor of the third degree for a second or any subsequent offense. A separate offense shall be deemed committed each day during or on which a violation or noncompliance occurs or continues. The penalty shall be as provided in Section 698.02.
(Ord. 143-81. Passed 7-20-81; Ord. 146-13. Passed 7-1-13.)