Lawndale Imposes Water-Saving Rules

Beginning April 15, Lawndale residents and businesses will no longer be permitted to water their lawns between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., to wash down their sidewalks or driveways, or to serve water in restaurants when it is not requested.

The restrictions are just some of the requirements under emergency drought measures adopted unanimously by the Lawndale City Council on Thursday night.

The ordinance also prohibits allowing water to run off landscaped areas or using water from fire hydrants for anything other than firefighting or other forms of public health and safety. Water leaks are to be repaired within 48 hours of their discovery, and washing cars or other equipment is permitted only with faucet-filled buckets or a hose equipped with an automatic shut-off valve.

Violations are considered infractions and violators can be cited by Lawndale community safety officers. Fines will be set within the next month.

In the last few months, several cities and private water suppliers throughout the South Bay have imposed mandatory water conservation measures. Lawndale’s conservation plan does not include mandatory water cutbacks, however, because the city is not a water supplier.

Lawndale’s water needs are met by Southern California Water Co., which also supplies water to Gardena, Culver City and parts of Hawthorne, Carson, El Segundo and Inglewood.

The water company submitted a conservation plan to the Public Utilities Commission on March 14 that requires customers to conserve water by at least 20% from the amount they used during the same billing period last year or face penalties. The commission is expected to vote on the plan in the next four to six weeks, said Kirk Brewer, division manager for the company’s metropolitan division.

If the plan is approved, the water company expects to send notices indicating water conservation goals by May 1.

Households or businesses that exceed their allotment will be charged an additional $2 for every billing unit that exceeds their conservation target. A billing unit equals 100 cubic feet or 748 gallons of water. Southern California Water Co. currently charges about 78 cents per billing unit.

Households using less than 12 billing units of water per month, or about 300 gallons a day, will be exempt from the cutbacks.

Although Southern California Water Co.’s conservation plan also restricts customers from watering their lawns and other nonessential uses, the emergency drought plans adopted by local cities take precedence, Brewer said.