A water policy shift has come to Santa Clara County…
At Santa Clara Valley Water District’s Thursday, April 13, board meeting, the board approved 7-0 to rescind the Water Shortage Emergency Condition, which had called for a mandatory 15% water-use reduction throughout the county.
In place of the Emergency Condition, Valley Water implemented a 15% voluntary water-use reduction.
In other words, what was mandatory has become voluntary.
In the meantime, the board also voted unanimously to direct Valley Water’s CEO to recommend additional water-conservation actions, making conservation “a way of life” (quoted from a Valley Water email forward) in Santa Clara County and all of California.
Notably, the county’s outdoor water waste restrictions, which include a 2-day-a-week watering limit on residential nonfunctional turf, still remain in force. The restrictions go as follows:
All property owners in Santa Clara County who receive potable water supplied or managed by Valley Water, either directly or indirectly by a water retailer, must NOT do any of the following:
• Water ornamental lawns more than two days a week.
• Water any outdoor landscape between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
• Water in a manner that results in excessive runoff.
• Water outdoors during and within 48 hours of a storm.
The 2-day limit is not applicable to sports fields or functional turf areas used for recreation or other civic, school, or community events.
Valley Water’s practice is to educate violators, though it does have the ability to fine those who violate the rules after repeated notices.
