(A) Upon notification by the Drought Response Committee that an extreme drought condition is present and is expected to persist and/or upon determination by the town that an extreme water supply shortage exists based on the trigger levels, the town will impose mandatory restrictions in the use of water for all purposes and on the times when certain water usage is allowed. Specifically, the goal during this phase is to achieve a reduction of 30% in residential water use, 25% in all other categories of water uses and a reduction in overall water use of 25%.
(B) To accomplish these goals, the town will take the following actions:
(1) Issue a proclamation to be released to the local media, the town customers and to the State Department of Natural Resources Drought Information Center that extreme drought conditions are present;
(2) Provide written notification to the State 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 mandatory restrictions to be placed on the use of water supplied by the utility, including:
(a) Limiting residential water use to 45 gallons per person per day and a maximum of 150 gallons per household or REU per day;
(b) Eliminate landscape irrigation by the utility’s customers;
(c) Mandatory restrictions on the use of water supplied by the utility for activities, including:
1. Eliminate the washing down of sidewalks, walkways, driveways, parking lots, tennis courts and other hard surfaced areas;
2. Eliminate the washing down of buildings for purposes other than immediate fire protection;
3. Eliminate the flushing of gutters;
4. No domestic washing of motorbikes, boats, cars and the like;
5. 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;
6. Eliminate filling or maintaining public or private swimming pools; and
7. Eliminate obtaining water from fire hydrants for construction purposes, fire drills or any purpose other than firefighting or flushing necessary to maintain water quality.
(d) 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 fish and wildlife;
3. Limit irrigating golf courses and any portion of their grounds;
4. 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; and
5. Limit expanding commercial nursery facilities, placing new irrigated agricultural land in production, or planting or landscaping when required by site design review process.
(3) Intensify maintenance efforts to identify and correct water leaks in the distribution system;
(4) Continue to cease installation of new irrigation taps on the water system;
(5) Outline other conservation measures; examples are:
(a) Place a moratorium on the issuance of all new water service connections and contracts for all new water main extensions. As part of the public information process, provide notice to developers of the moratorium;
(b) Encourage all residential water customers to voluntarily reduce overall monthly water usage to 70% of the customer’s monthly average. If voluntary reduction of usage is not successful, the town may, at its option, implement the following excessive use rate schedule for water:
Tier I | 0 – 6,000 gallons/REU | Regular rate |
Tier II | 6,001 – 8,000 gallons/REU | 2 times regular rate |
Tier III | Over 8,000 gallons/REU | 3 times regular rate |
(c) Impose a drought surcharge per 1,000 gallons of water that increases with higher usage. The general principle behind the drought surcharge is that the fee is imposed on water use in excess of 6,000 gallons of normal monthly use. The drought surcharge is a temporary fee imposed during the current water supply shortage and is not a cost-based rate. The drought surcharge is temporary and will be terminated at a time as the town determines the water supply is above the trigger levels; and
(d) If the conservation measures of the ordinance or the Plan prove inadequate to mitigate the effects of the drought conditions or water supply availability, the town may take additional actions, including but not limited to:
1. Decreasing the gallon/REU limits in the different tiers; and
2. Reduction of water system pressure as needed.
(6) Publicize widely the penalties to be imposed for violations of mandatory restrictions and the procedures to be followed if a variance in the restrictions is requested;
(7) Expand the use of education and public relations efforts as conducted under the moderate and severe drought phase and emphasize the penalties associated with violating the mandatory restrictions; and
(8) Provide written notification monthly to the State Department of Natural Resources Drought Information Center regarding the success of the mandatory restrictions.
(Ord. 06-03-03, passed 6-3-2003)