SAN CLEMENTE : Exceptions to Water Restrictions OKd

Two years after a severe water shortage that cut the city’s reserve supply in half and amid a continuing drought, officials have approved exceptions to rules restricting water use for new construction.

Last week, the City Council voted 5 to 0 to allow construction projects with “substantial benefit” to the community to exceed a 1,000-gallon-per-day limit.

Exceptions will be considered on a project-by-project basis, with the city manager empowered to grant approval, according to a report from Greg Morehead, the city’s utilities manager.

Pending projects that will be affected include recently approved improvements to Interstate 5 ramps at Camino de Estrella and grading for Rancho San Clemente Park, Morehead said.

He said projects such as parks, slope stabilization and infrastructure improvements have been delayed by a 1989 law prohibiting the use of more than 1,000 gallons of water per day for construction or grading projects. The new ordinance will eliminate those delays, he said.

Another exception to water rules, approved in the same vote, allows newly constructed pools to be filled until the city’s main reservoir falls to 18 million gallons. Previous restrictions said pools could not be filled when the reservoir level fell below 35 million gallons.

Conservation efforts have resulted in normal water levels since the city’s main reservoir dipped below half capacity during the spring of 1989, officials said.