New rules limit lawn watering to twice a week
San Jose Water Co. conservation measures affect 1 million in county
Brown lawns and dirty cars will soon be the norm in the South Bay. San Jose’s largest retail water provider on Wednesday announced new rules aimed at increasing water conservation as the state’s drought grows more serious — chief among them a limit on watering lawns and landscaping to no more than two days a week, and a ban on washing cars at home.
San Jose Water Co., which serves 1 million people who live in San Jose, Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga, parts of Cupertino and Redwood Estates, said the new rules, the first of their kind since the last drought ended in 2017, take effect immediately.
Irrigation will be allowed Mondays and Thursdays for odd-numbered addresses, and on Tuesdays and Fridays for even-numbered ones. The rules limit the watering or irrigating of lawns, landscaping, turf areas or “other vegetated areas” like vegetable gardens with potable water to no more than 15 minutes a day per irrigation station, with no watering between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. to reduce evaporation.
“This is an extreme drought,” said Liann Walborsky, a spokeswoman for San Jose Water. “We need to take all precautions to ensure that we are conserving water properly. We don’t know what next winter is going to bring. It could get worse. We don’t have con
trol over the weather. We do have control over our actions.”
The move comes after two dry winters, as local reservoir levels fall, and as Santa Clara County faces particularly acute water shortages worse than other large urban areas in California.
San Jose Water said Wednesday it is taking the measures in response to a vote two weeks ago by the Santa Clara Valley Water District, the county’s wholesale water provider, to declare a drought emergency and request that all cities and private water companies in the county cut water use 15% from 2019 levels, which is also 33% from 2013 levels, near the start of the state’s last drought.
For now, there won’t be drought surcharges, San Jose Water said Wednesday.
Last week, however, San Jose Water officials notified the state Public Utilities Commission that if its customers do not hit the conservation target, the company is likely to ask the PUC to grant it authority to set water allotments after Aug. 31 for homes and businesses, as it did from 2014 to 2017 during the last drought, with penalties for households that use more.
San Jose Water also announced new rules to curb water wasting. They include: A prohibition of the use of potable water for filling or refilling decorative fountains and ponds more than 1 foot deep; a ban on washing vehicles, except at a commercial car wash that uses recycled water; and a ban on hosing down buildings, sidewalks, driveways, patios, tennis courts or other hard surfaces, except to protect health and safety. Restaurants also are required to serve water only upon request, and hotels are required to notify guests they can choose not to have towels and sheets washed every day.
The past two winters in California have been the driest since 1976-77. Overall, 85% of California is in “extreme drought,” according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, a weekly report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and University of Nebraska.
Santa Clara County is in worse shape than many other counties because its largest reservoir, Anderson, near Morgan Hill, was ordered drained last year by federal officials to rebuild its 70-year-old dam, which is at risk of collapse in a major earthquake. It will remain empty for the next 10 years during construction, and the county’s other nine reservoirs are collectively just 15% full.
The county suffered another hit last month when the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced it would be cutting water allocations to cities from the Delta by half due to a meager Sierra Nevada snowpack.
To make up for the loss, groundwater pumping will increase, water district officials said. And the water district is working to buy water from farm districts in other parts of the state. But if next winter is dry, groundwater could drop to emergency levels, district engineers have forecast, increasing the risk of the ground sinking in Santa Clara County, which could lead to cracked roads, sidewalks, home foundations and pipes.
In response, the water district asked the dozen cities and water companies it sells water to, called retailers, to come up with rules to hit the conservation target. On June 16, the Morgan Hill City Council also voted to limit lawn and landscape irrigation to two days a week.
In the coming weeks, more cities and private water companies are expected to put in place similar rules in Santa Clara County.
The drought and lawn watering rules are keeping irrigation contractors busy.
“Business is doing well,” said Gerardo Santillan, owner of Dick’s Sprinkler Repair in San Jose, which converts sprinkler systems to drip irrigation. “Customers are trying to upgrade to systems that save water. Some are moving from grass to drought resistant plants.”
New smart timers are now popular, and replacing old irrigation system controller boxes, he said. They can be operated on cellphones, and synchronized with weather reports to change watering amounts based on the forecast. “If you have a leak, it sends a message to your phone,” Santillan said.
For now, it still isn’t clear how water officials will enforce the new rules.
San Jose Water officials said Wednesday they have no plans to hire “water cops” to ticket residents ignoring the rules. Instead, people who see violations can call the company’s customer service number at 408-279-7900 or email customer.service@sjwater. com. They also can call the “water wise hotline” set up by the Santa Clara Valley Water District at 408-6302000 or email WaterWise@ valleywater.org.
The company and the district will then notify the property owner, either by letter, door hanger or phone call.
“During every drought, our customers have done extraordinarily well saving water to meet our local emergency conditions,” said San Jose Water President Andy Gere. “We ask them again to put conservation at the forefront.”