13 - Laserfiche WebLink

BACKGROUND When the City last faced the threat of a serious drought in 1991, it adopted Ordinance 1508 which established Chapter 9.30 of the Pleasanton Municipal Code (PMC) that defines the City's Water Conservation Plan and various stages of water shortage with corresponding voluntary and mandatory levels of water reduction. However, due to weather changes, the various mandatory conservation measures included in the Water Conservation Plan were not imposed in 1991 and have not been used at any time since their adoption. Based on current water practices and the fact that the Water Conservation Plan utilizes 1990 water usage as reference points, it is appropriate to amend it to be current with the Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) adopted by the City Council in June 2011 (Attachment 3), the Tri-Valley Water Retailers Water Conservation Plan, best conservation practices from nearby agencies such as the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) and the California model water efficient landscape ordinance. The recommendations included in this report have been reviewed by the City's Drought Action Committee to implement City Wide Drought Action Strategies (Attachment 4) DISCUSSION Water Conservation Plan The recommended amendments are extensive and encompass such matters as: setting forth stages of voluntary and mandatory conservation to match the 2011 Urban Water Management Plan, removing the limitation that water conservation be limited to only May through September, eliminating references to 1990 or 1991 water usage, establishing that water reductions will be based on a customer's average usage during 1 to 4 prior years using the same 60 day billing period, modifying times for using landscaping sprinklers, and implementing new processes for violations. The substantive amendments to each section of Chapter 9.30 are summarized as follows: Section 9.30.010. Amend to provide that the City Council declares any water shortage, eliminates the May to September prior limitation, and allows City Manager to administratively determine that shortage has ended. Section 9.30.040. Delete definitions referencing 1990 water usage and allocations, floor and ceiling. Reductions instead are proposed to be based on a customer's average usage from similar 60 day billing periods in 1 to 4 prior years (see re-numbered Section 9.30.070). Page 2 of 4