LAKEPORT >> The Lakeport City Council unanimously approved the declaration of a stage one water emergency Tuesday.
Interim City Attorney David J. Ruderman said the city water system is approximately at the same levels as last year, “but we don”t know what this fall is going to bring.”
On March 4, the Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) proclaimed a local state of emergency because of drought conditions. The state of emergency has been continued every 30 days since. Additionally, Lake County Special Districts presented a drought management plan for its water systems to the BOS, which was approved unanimously.
Furthermore, urgency conservation ordinances for the water systems in Spring Valley, Finley and Kelseyville were approved by the BOS July 22. Despite seeing the majority of customers actively conserve water usage, each system has a small group of excessive users, according to Lake County Special Districts Compliance Coordinator Jan Coppinger.
The ordinances only target the very high users. After the State Water Board approved the regulations, Special Districts had a conference call with the board to determine if the county drought management plan was a compliant compromise, which the board decided was the case, Coppinger said. Letters from the district have been mailed asking all water customers to “refrain from using water for irrigation/outdoor watering purposes, filling swimming pools, high-pressure water cleaning applications and washing vehicles.” The notices were the first step of the Special Districts four-stage drought management plan. Mandatory measures listed in step two include not using water to wash buildings, sidewalks, driveways, patios and other hard-surfaced areas; not using a handheld hose without a functioning shut-off nozzle; and no water usage that would result in flooding or runoff into gutters or streets. Stage three of the drought management plan is expected to result in a further 10-percent decrease in water usage. Additional mandatory conservation measures and revised rate structures would go into effect during the third stage, according to plan documents. The fourth and final stage would include a connection moratorium and prohibit new connections.
The city also adopted the mandatory statewide water conservation regulation with unanimous approval.
The regulations are intended to reduce outdoor urban water use. The regulation mandates minimum actions to conserve water supplies for this year and 2015. The regulation asks all Californians to stop: washing down driveways and sidewalks; watering outdoor landscapes that cause excess runoff; using a hose to wash a motor vehicle, unless the hose is fitted with a shut-off nozzle and using potable water in a fountain or decorative water feature, unless the water is re-circulated. Exceptions are made for health and safety circumstances. Larger water suppliers will be required to activate water shortage contingency plans to a level where outdoor irrigation restrictions are mandatory. Contact J. W. Burch, IV at 900-2022.
