City Enacts New Water Restrictions to Meet State Requirements

As the persistent statewide drought reaches record-setting levels through much of California, the State Water Resources Control Board enacted restrictions on water use effective July 28. To comply with these restrictions, which are in effect for 270 days, the city of Redlands has implemented its Stage 2 water conservation measures. Stage 2 measures require city water customers to limit water usage and limit the days and times customers may irrigate their landscaping. The restrictions limit potable water customers with even numbered addresses to irrigating only on even-numbered calendar days and potable water customers with odd-numbered addresses to irrigating only on odd numbered calendar days. If these restrictions do not meet the needs of reducing the city’s production below 2013 production levels, as required by the new state regulations, the city will adopt more stringent conservation methods until the necessary conservation is obtained. To ensure compliance, the city has implemented a three-stage violation process, the first two stages involve warnings; if after two warnings customers do not reduce their waste, a surcharge of 25 percent of the customer’s water usage may be imposed on the customer’s water bill. It is the city’s intent to educate the public of the need to conserve and to provide methods to achieve the necessary water use reductions, rather than penalize customers for overuse of water. Customers interested in receiving a free water audit, as well as information on the city’s rebate program can check the city’s website or contact the city at (909) 798-7527, ext. 2.