The Pasadena City Council on Monday night declared a local water emergency, establishing a 20-percent conservation goal and implementing the city’s Level 1 Water Supply Shortage Plan, with mandatory water waste restrictions effective immediately.
The Level 1 plan limits watering to three days per week in summer, one day per week in winter and requires that leaks be repaired within 72 hours, in addition to permanent water waste prohibitions.
Fines for repeat offenders can be up to $500 per violation for residential customers, and up to $1,000 per violation for commercial accounts.
Pasadena Water and Power customers can report water waste by calling (626) 744-8888 at any time or report online via the Pasadena Citizen Service Center.
"Pasadena already has restrictions in place and our customers have made exemplary efforts to conserve," Pasadena Water and Power Chief Deputy General Manager Eric Klinkner told City News Service. "However, Pasadena's water use has increased over the last few years due to a lack of rain and the improving economy. Tonight's City Council vote reiterates the significance of the drought and is a call to action for all of our customers to step up their efforts to conserve our precious water supplies."
The City Council approved Pasadena's Water Waste Prohibitions and Water Supply Shortage Plans Ordinance in 2009. The key conservation measures in effect for all Pasadena Water and Power water customers include:
- Limiting outdoor watering to three days per week -- Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays -- during the summer months
- Banning watering outdoors between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., except with a hand-held container or hose with a shut-off nozzle
- Banning watering during periods of rain
- Requiring all water leaks to be fixed within 72 hours
- Banning excessive water flow or runoff onto pavement, gutters or ditches from watering or irrigating landscapes or vegetation of any kind
- Banning washing down paved surfaces unless for safety or sanitation, in which case a bucket, a hose with a shut-off nozzle, a cleaning machine that recycles water or a low-volume/high-pressure water broom must be used
- Prohibiting washing vehicles except by using a hand-held bucket or similar container or hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle
