Roseville Announces New Mandatory Water Conservation Due To Drought
ROSEVILLE (CBS13) - Starting next Monday, people living in the City of Roseville will be required to cut their water usage by 20 percent and have assigned days to water their lawn.
Christina Huie is now getting ready to cut back to watering her lawn just three days a week.
"We still water every day, so we need to change that. I didn't even know about the restrictions until today, but I mean honestly this kind of grass stays green even without a lot of water," she said.
So how will the city keep tabs on water usage?
"It's done in aggregate, so we are looking at residential customers, business customers, industrial users," said Maurice Chaney, a spokesperson for the City of Roseville.
Chaney says the city monitors monthly reports and has been since the last drought.
"Just by virtue of having watering days that allows our water efficiency staff to be able to go out and monitor," he added.
He says the city isn't looking to fine people for not following the rules but rather educate them, but administrative fines can happen.
Christina isn't worried about cutting back watering. She's even considering going drought resistant.
"Like these people just switched to low water consumption like a lot of bark. I have noticed a lot of rocks that kind of stuff I know the city helps subsidize that for you if you decide to do that but I mean it's just something that we haven't really looked into yet but I'm definitely open to that because where was the rain this year at all," she said.
The city says it does have adequate supply to meet demand but continued drought conditions throughout the fall and winter could further stress water deliveries from the reservoir to residents and environmental needs in the American River.
"The drought situation is becoming more urgent. In these hot summer months, now it's time for everyone to work together to conserve water for our community and our region," said Sean Bigley, assistant director of water.
"We're here to help residents reduce water use by 20 percent through information about watering days, water-smart practices, and available rebates. We will even make free house calls."
The City adds landscape watering accounts for up to 60% of water use during the summer months.
Roseville is implementing the following landscape watering restrictions, effective August 9:
- Landscape watering may only occur three days per week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
- Landscape watering at businesses and other non-residential sites may only occur on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.
- Watering restrictions do not apply to drip irrigation systems.
Effective September 1, watering days will be reduced to two days per week. - Residents may only wash vehicles if the hose is equipped with a shut-off nozzle. (Commercial car washes that use low-volume and recirculating water systems are permitted to operate.)
- Enforcement actions for non-compliance with the 20 percent conservation requirement will begin on August 15.
