Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the times that residents can water their lawns under the city’s current water restrictions. Those who live at even numbered addresses can water for 15 minutes between 6 p.m. Wednesday through 9 a.m. Thursday, not from 9 p.m. Wednesday through 6 a.m. Thursday as stated. Those who live at odd numbered addresses can water between 6 p.m. Friday through 9 a.m. Saturday.
When the Manhattan Beach’s water importer declared a stage three drought in response to the governor’s April 1 executive order to reduce water usage throughout the state, the city’s 2009 water conservation ordinance meant it automatically went to stage three restrictions, including limiting residents to watering their lawns for 15 minutes once a week.
Seeking to give the city more freedom, staff proposed leaving it up to the council, with guidance from staff, to decide which level should be chosen.
“It can be a sudden blow,” said Public Works Director Tony Olmos at Tuesday night’s council meeting. “Maybe we would’ve recommended stage one six months ago, instead of going straight to stage three.”
The council accepted Olmos’s suggestion unanimously Tuesday night, voting to update the ordinance.
The city can now declare a water restriction level after a public hearing that has been advertised at least 10 days before in a newspaper.
Other changes were made to make the city’s law in compliance with the recent state mandates.
Olmos called the prior city council “foresighted” in drafting the 2009 ordinance, which matched many of the new restrictions imposed by the state in the wake of Governor Jerry Brown’s executive order.
Previously, the law said that residents couldn’t irrigate until 24 hours after it rained. However, 48 hours is the standard set by the state.
The law also included the the restriction of only being allowed to water a lawn for 15 minutes on Wednesdays. That policy wasn’t allowing water to circulate through the city’s infrastructure, however, so now residents are assigned different watering days based on their addresses. Those who live at even numbered addresses can water for 15 minutes starting on Wednesday at 6 p.m. through Thursday at 9 a.m. Those at odd numbers can water Friday at 6 p.m. through Saturday at 9 a.m.
As some residents did at a recent community meeting on the drought hosted by the city, one resident complained about the lack of flexibility. Frank Allen, who lives at an even numbered address, said that because he didn’t have a sprinkler, he had to water his lawn by hand, which was inconvenient to do during the week.
Director Olmos explained that splitting up the city by addresses would allow his team to enforce the ordinance.
“It all comes down to enforcement,” he said. “If folks are watering one day a week, the other side should be dry.”
However, if residents have special circumstances, Olmos encouraged them to call his office to work out a solution.
Allen also brought up the fines for those who don’t follow the rules, which some residents bristled at at the community meeting.
The state has ordered cities to impose the fines. Olmos has said that the city isn’t looking to make money from the revenue. To that end, first-time offenders will essentially get a “fix-it ticket,” giving them seven days to correct their violation. If they don’t, they will have to pay $100. Those who break the rules twice in a year will have to pay $200. Third-time offenders have to pay $500.
Another change to the city’s ordinance in keeping with the state’s restrictions has to do with new construction or landscaping. For projects submitted to the city by July 1, 2015 or after, irrigation done with potable water must be delivered by a drip or micro spray irrigation system.
Olmos said that the city would track its progress toward meeting its 20 percent reduction goal each month and put up signs at city hall and the Joslyn Center showing that progress. Although the city will not be checking to make sure each household reduces its consumption by that amount, he said that 65 gallons per capita per day was a “good target for a person conserving water.”
