MOORPARK : Plan Would Reduce Water Usage by 10%

Moorpark residents are going to have to get used to dry lawns and drought-resistant landscaping under a plan the city wants to adopt to reduce water consumption.

City officials are drafting a program to cut back on water consumption by about 10% by forbidding excessive water usage and requiring low-flow plumbing fixtures on new homes. The Moorpark City Council will consider the plan May 16.

Unlike Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, two other cities in the eastern part of the county that rely almost entirely on water from the Calleguas Municipal Water District, Moorpark is not under immediate pressure to reduce its water consumption.

City officials, however, said they were committed to ensuring that a shortage does not occur by imposing the ban on excessive water use.

About 7,476 residential customers and 88 agricultural customers in the district get a fourth of their water from underground sources. Three-quarters of Moorpark’s water comes from Calleguas through the state water project.

Wednesday, the city began pumping water from a new well west of Grimes Canyon Road, said Reddy Pakala, manager of the Ventura County Water Works District 1, which includes Moorpark and farmland north of the city.

County water officials are also considering installing new equipment that would treat 1 1/2 million gallons a day for use in landscaping and agriculture, Pakala said.