New Water Regulations for the City of Pleasanton

On March 18, the Pleasanton City Council adopted an urgency ordinance making changes to the City's Water Conservation Plan. The City Council declared a Stage 1 water shortage, aiming to have a voluntary reduction of 20%. The summary of the water prohibitions listed below are now in effect.


To protect and preserve the community water supply the elimination of wasteful water uses is essential at all times, regardless of water supply level.

 Pleasanton customers shall observe the following regulations on water use:

• Use potable water for irrigation of landscape in a manner that does not result in runoff or
  excessive flooding on patios, driveways, walkways or streets.
• Schedule regular irrigation of lawn and landscape between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.
  the following day. Watering is permitted at any hour if a hand-held nozzle or drip irrigation is
  used. Special landscapes are exempted.
• Limit the use of water for washing sidewalks, walkways, driveways, patios, or other hardsurfaced areas to prevent excessive runoff or waste.
• Use water for mobile or machinery washing, preferably from a hose equipped with a shutoff
  nozzle, in a manner that does not result in excessive runoff or waste.
• Repair potable water leaks from breaks within the customer' s plumbing system within eight
  hours after customer is notified or discovers the break.
• Reduce other interior or exterior uses of water to minimize or eliminate excessive runoff or
  waste.
• Restaurants are requested to serve water to their customers only when specifically requested.

Stage 1: 20% Voluntary Reduction.

There is sufficient uncertainty concerning water supplies for this year or in the next few years that it would be prudent to conserve local water supplies so that these supplies may be used to meet water demands, in future years.

 The following restrictions shall be applicable during a Stage 1 activation of the water shortage contingency plan:

• All of the normal supply level restrictions, in Section A, above, shall continue to be mandatory
  during Stage 1.
• There should be no hose washing of hard- surfaced areas. Use bucket and broom to wash down
  hard-surfaced areas if necessary for the benefit of public health and safety.
• Should not irrigate landscaping on consecutive days or more frequently than 1 day per week
  October— March, or 2 days per week April—September. Additionally, running irrigation
  during periods of rain is discouraged.
• Commercial customers should post water conservation messages on bathroom lavatory mirrors.
• Swimming pools, spas, fountains, and ponds should be leak proof. Any leak should be repaired
  in a timely manner after notification by the City, but should not exceed 72 hours.
• Cover pools when not in use to reduce evaporation.
• Use of water in non-recirculating decorative ponds, fountains, and other water features is
  discouraged.
• Using potable water for construction is discouraged if a feasible alternative source of water for
  construction exists.

For more information, please call the City of Pleasanton's Water Conservation Division at (925) 931-5504.

DWR Press Release: April 1 Snow Survey

 

News for Immediate Release

 

March 27, 2014

 

Contacts:
Ted Thomas, Information Officer – (916) 653-9712
Ted.Thomas@water.ca.gov
 
Doug Carlson, Information Officer – (916) 653-5114
Paul.Carlson@water.ca.gov

 

 

April 1 Snow Survey Will Reveal Whether Recent Precipitation

Has Reversed March’s Steady Decline in Sierra Snowpack

 
 
SACRAMENTO – Department of Water Resources surveyors will head back up the mountain on Tuesday, April 1 for their monthly on-the-ground snow survey with an expectation of finding growth in the snowpack due to this week’s storms throughout much of California.
 
However, the first significant precipitation in weeks likely will be too little and too late to have much impact on this year’s severe drought. Snowpack and rain measurements are so far below normal for this time of year that even sustained rainfall over the next several days, as is predicted, won’t end the drought.
 
Today’s (3/27) snowpack water equivalent as measured electronically by 99 sensors in the Northern, Central and Southern Sierra Nevada range is 7.1 inches, only 25 percent of the date’s average of 28.3 inches.
 
Rain measurements show the same pattern. Average rainfall at eight monitoring stations in Northern California is just 55 percent of the average for this date, and the average at five stations in the San Joaquin watershed is even less – 43 percent of their average.
 
Northern California reservoirs – Shasta, Trinity and Folsom (Bureau of Reclamation facilities) and Oroville (State Water Project) – are well below their historic storage levels for this date at 58, 68, 67 and 61 percent respectively.
 
DWR Director Mark Cowin said this week’s storms are providing some short-term gains, but the drought is far from being broken. “It’s as important as ever for Californians to conserve water,” he said. “We can do that by allowing Mother Nature to water lawns and landscapes and by turning off our automatic sprinklers to save water.”
 
Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. declared a state of drought emergency on January 17 and called on local water suppliers and municipalities to implement their water shortage contingency plans. He also directed State officials to respond to the state’s drought conditions by taking all necessary actions, including facilitating water transfers and reducing water use at government facilities. Visit Drought.CA.Gov to learn more about how California is dealing with the effects of the drought.

Electronic snowpack readings are available on the Internet at:

 

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/snowapp/sweq.action

 

Electronic reservoir readings may be found at:

 

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cdecapp/resapp/getResGraphsMain.action