Even as its Level 2 drought alert is in effect, San Diego City Council June 30 opted to impose elements of Level 3 – even though the state isn’t considering issuing new restriction guidelines until next month.
Homeowners are looking at a substantial cut in yard watering, except for those with high-tech irrigation systems that better disperse and reduce flow. Landscaping days will drop from three to two on an odd-even address basis – for five minutes per “station,” meaning sprinkler arrays and hose connections.
As severe as things are, city officials say the added stress of less water won’t necessarily mean that lawns and shrubbery will wind up dying.
“It depends on the type of turf, on the location, how much shade it gets, whether it’s smack in the middle of the sun or not and the soil type,” Public Utilities director Halla Razak told a local television station. “I can’t specifically say that everybody’s turf will be doing fine.”
Car washing will be limited to between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m., and ornamental fountains can only be run for the purpose of keeping the pumps and related equipment from deteriorating – although no specific guidelines were issued.
Council unanimously approved the changes to bring the city closer to the state-mandated 16 percent cut in water use. The updates to the city’s municipal code bring San Diego water restrictions in line with requirements set by the state and the San Diego County Water Authority.
Residents using water efficient devices such as drip-irrigation systems can water longer than five minutes, but San Diegans are prohibited from watering within 48 hours of at least 1/8 an inch of rainfall or between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
San Diego Coastkeeper’s Matt O’Malley said the restrictions are great on paper but that compliance is key to hitting the city’s reduction goal. The city of San Diego has cut water usage only 3.5 percent from April of 2013 to April of 2015,  cut back 3.5 percent from April 2013 to April 2015, according to the state. “What we’ve seen so far across the board is you have very few places reducing, and I don’t think anywhere in the county actually meet their reduction measures,” O’Malley said.
Updating the mandatory rules will allow the city to step up enforcement, Public Utilities Department director Halla Razak said at the June 30 council meeting. The provisions also allow the city to assign watering days and times, clarify language on the washing of pavement and define different types of fountains.
A representative from the San Diego chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects spoke against some of the updated rules.
“We are opposed to the combination of restrictions of a maximum of five minutes of spray irrigation and the restriction of irrigating no more than two days per week because the two together do not allow for the consideration of each site’s unique conditions and needs and they reduce the landscape industry professional’s ability to creatively and effectively meet the goal of conserving water,” the group wrote in a letter to the council. – NBC 7, KPBS