State of California Proposed Emergency Drought Regulations
On January 4, 2022, the California State Water Resources Control Board will be considering emergency regulations to prevent wasteful water uses during the ongoing state-wide drought. The proposed text of the emergency regulation includes the following:
(b)(1) To prevent the unreasonable use of water and to promote water conservation, the use of water is prohibited as identified in this subdivision for the following actions:
- (A) The application of potable water to outdoor landscapes in a manner that causes more than incidental runoff such that water flows onto adjacent property, non-irrigated areas, private and public walkways, roadways, parking lots, or structures;
- (B) The use of a hose that dispenses water to wash a motor vehicle, except where the hose is fitted with a shut-off nozzle or device attached to it that causes it to cease dispensing water immediately when not in use;
- (C) The use of potable water for washing sidewalks, driveways, buildings, structures, patios, parking lots, or other hard surfaced areas, except in cases where health and safety are at risk;
- (D) The use of potable water for street cleaning or construction purposes, unless no other method can be used to protect the health and safety of the public;
- (E) The use of potable water for decorative fountains or the filling or topping-off of decorative lakes or ponds, with exceptions for those decorative fountains, lakes, or ponds that use pumps to recirculate water and only require refilling to replace evaporative losses;
- (F) The application of water to irrigate turf and ornamental landscapes during and within 48 hours after measurable rainfall of at least one fourth of one inch of rain. In determining whether measurable rainfall of at least fourth of one inch of rain occurred in a given area, enforcement may be 2 based on records of the National Weather Service, the closest CIMIS station to the parcel, or any other reliable source of rainfall data available to the entity undertaking enforcement of this subdivision; and
- (G) The use of potable water for irrigation of turf on public street medians or publicly owned or maintained landscaped areas between the street and sidewalk.
(2) Notwithstanding subdivision (b)(1), the use of water is not prohibited by this section to the extent necessary to address an immediate health and safety need. This may include, but is not limited to, the use of potable water in a fountain or water feature when required to be potable because human contact is expected to occur.
Water Use Efficiency is a Cambria Way of Life
Some form of all of the above regulations are already in effect under the CCSD's Water Shortage Contingency Plan.
The CCSD appreciates the community's collective efforts to curb water use during this time of shortage. Although early rains in October did slow the declining water levels at the San Simeon Creek aquifer, we are not yet out of the woods. Please continue to practice water use efficiency in your homes and businesses and spread the word to the community's many visitors.