SAN CLEMENTE : Council Restricts Lawn Watering

Lawn watering during summer daytime hours was outlawed this week in an ordinance which also allows officials to cut off water to industries caught using too much in a drought.

The ordinance, passed 4 to 1, bans watering by residents between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. from June 15 to Sept. 15. It also bans new landscaping between those dates.

“This ordinance provides the city with the mechanisms to deal with an emergency water shortage,” said Greg Morehead, city utilities manager. “It also encourages water conservancy.”

Councilman Thomas Lorch voted against the ordinance, saying he wanted it to become effective when the reservoir drained to emergency levels, not at the start of summer.

On Feb. 21, the council will consider establishing a 50% penalty on water bills for business owners and residents who use more water than maximum amounts set by the city.

The council agreed to pay $52,660 from city water funds to implement the ordinance. Council members also authorized spending $7,000 to mail 20,000 newsletters about water issues to San Clemente homes.

The ordinance was sparked by water shortages last summer in which more than 60% of San Clemente’s water supply was drained from a nearby reservoir, with demand overloading the single water pipe serving the city.

During the peak use period, water officials watched with dismay as the area’s 45-million-gallon reservoir gradually sank to 17 million gallons.

City officials at first considered a rationing plan. But with cooperation from local industry, the crisis passed, Morehead said. The City Council then instructed the Water Department chief to develop a water conservation plan.

Part of that plan was implemented in January, when the council passed an ordinance freezing new building permits for 90 days.

Concerned that construction was placing too large a burden on the aging water system, the council asked city staff to come up with a plan detailing how development permits should be allocated in the next two years.

By mid-1991, city officials expect another water pipeline currently under construction to reach San Clemente.

Morehead expressed doubts that the city would run dry this summer.

“With the conservancy measures we’ve taken, I don’t think we’ll have any problems,” he said.