City commits $125K for water compliance

Irrigation limited to one day per week



TURN IT OFF—Outdoor watering will be heavily restricted starting June 1.

TURN IT OFF—Outdoor watering will be heavily restricted for the foreseeable future.

Thousand Oaks residents who repeatedly disobey new water restrictions could face up to a $500 fine and have a flow restrictor placed on their meter, the City Council said Tuesday.

“The state has suffered its driest period on record and the driest first three months of the year,” said Helen Cox, the city’s sustainability manager, at the May 24 council meeting, where council members voted 5-0 to move the city to the fourth level in its water conservation tier system.

The system was adopted by the council in November in response to reduction demands from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

“This is the worst drought in our history since we began receiving water from the State Water Project in 1972,” Cox said. “Even though higher levels could achieve greater savings, they would all but eliminate outdoor watering.”

Level 4 would preserve the ability to water trees and protect the city’s urban forest, she said. But the city could ban outdoor watering if it doesn’t meet reduction goals set forth by the Calleguas Municipal Water District.

Starting this week, residents—whether they get their water from the city, Cal American Water or Cal Water Service—will be limited to one-day-a-week watering, 15 minutes per station. Residents with odd-numbered street addresses may water on Saturdays and those with even numbers may water on Sundays.

Those using low-volume irrigation systems (traditional sprinklers are not allowed) are limited to watering 15 minutes per irrigation zone.

Hand watering using a bucket or similar container, or a hand-held hose with a positive self-closing water shut-off nozzle or device will also be allowed.

Excessive water runoff or overspray, washing down of hard or paved surfaces, car washing with potable water, water mister use and gym showers (unless the gym provides proof that showers have low-flow shower heads) are prohibited in Level 4.

What’s not banned as of now: swimming pools (which must be covered when not in use), decorative water fountains and running-water features that use recirculating water.

Some watering exceptions (for engineered slopes and such) are allowed. For a complete list of measures, go to toakswater.org.

The city will let residents know about the new regulations through various outreach methods, but come June 1, a process will be in place for rule breakers.

For a first offense, the city will send a warning letter and leave a door hanger when possible. A second offense will lead to a $100 fine; a third offense is $200, and a fourth is $500. With the fifth offense comes another $500 fine and the flow restrictor.

The city is offering a 60-day grace period to give residents time to put in low-volume irrigation systems.

To cover the cost of contracted water patrol service and public outreach, the council, as part of its approval, appropriated $125,000.

The city’s measures come on the tails of an emergency conservation program adopted April 27 by Calleguas Municipal Water District, which provides water to all three of the city’s water purveyors. The program requires the city to adopt a one-day-per-week watering restriction or pay penalties of up to $2,000 per acre-foot (or 325,851 gallons) of water that exceeds the monthly allocation limits Calleguas set for it.

Metropolitan Water District, from which Calleguas gets its water, adopted a similar emergency program the day before.

Though the council discussed long-term options and the state’s actions to prepare for drought, Tuesday’s vote was limited to moving to the Level 4 water regulations, approving money for enforcement and education, and naming a council member to represent the city on a task force formed with other local water agencies to consider long-term solutions to the area’s dependence on the State Water Project.

One final question addressed Tuesday was one Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña said she’s been asked often.

Though the council had touched on the topic at its meeting the week before, she said she wanted residents to hear the answer from the experts.

“If we have no water, how come we’re scheduled to build hundreds, if not thousands, of (residential) units,” she said.

The answer has two parts, Cox said. First the state has prioritized housing over water. The second, mentioned at last week’s meeting, is that multifamily housing, which makes up most of the city’s coming residential development, uses very little water, as the majority of residential water use is outdoors.

“The good news is that the new development will use a lot less water than traditional development in the city,” Cox said Tuesday, adding that estimates show use is less than half of what the average residential use is.

The explanation didn’t sit well with Councilmember Kevin McNamee.

“It’s similar to the following: If you have a ship that is sinking because you have holes in the hull, if you put smaller holes in the hull, it’s still sinking,” he said.

The city is required by the state to provide space for 2,621 homes by 2029.