The San Diego Regional Water Control District, which includes Mission Viejo, issued a new “over-watering” regulation Wednesday that will require the City to issue violations to homeowners whose irrigation runoff resembles the above photo. Ironically, if a similar water pattern is created by car washing, which is still permitted, no violation occurs.
The City estimates thousands of MV homes will be in violation every day, but the City is subject to hefty fines for lax enforcement. The new regulation is one of several new rules issued to restrain water consumption and is in addition to day and time regulations already imposed by local water districts.
The City Council will consider appealing the new rules at a January 4 closed session meeting. An appeal must be filed by January 15.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
If this is a violation then almost everyone who has a sprinkler system with a slight slope will be in violation of the law. This is absurd but then this is the government, and they know what’s best for us children.
Here’s a novel idea. Why not create more supply by building some desalination plants along the Pacific ocean and get us all the water we need. Oh, I forgot, they want a growing population (38.5 million and rising) to use less of everything.
So – just who is going to make the determination of violation – city inspectors, San Diego Regional Water Control District inspectors, or some other special interest group?
While I have worked hard for water conservation both at home and in my HOA, I am not for some inquisitor placing arbitrary fines on anyone. This smells of government reaching into our wallets.
This is what happens when you conserve and reduce revenues. The district has to increase revenues somehow.
Please fight this issue; a large percentage of Southern Californians reside in foothill areas and water tends to run downhill.
You know with the clay soil we have here you could run your lawn sprinklers for a minute or less and you might see run off like in the picture. I don’t think this will be a revenue generator to the plus column if they have to hire someone to write the tickets. We all are probably guilty of some overwatering and I think education is a much better deterent than a ticket.
Hete’s an idea – stop approving new housing developments until reliable sources of water can be found or developed. Unchecked housing growth depletes our resources, pollutes the environment, and devalues existing housing stock. Over the last 10 years they have pernmitted more houses than they can supply with water – and now they want me to let my kawn die in order to make up for their mistakes.
Stop the development of new homes. When I bought my home in the Coronado homes in south Mission Viejo, the water pressure was fine. Now, 39 years later the pressure, at the meter at the street is only around 35 psi. When I spoke with a MNWD employee one day, he said there is nothing they could do – just too many homes and only so much water. Mission Viejo, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Niguel etc.
I understand that Santa Barbara had (or has?) a plan to deal with their limited water supplies. They will not issue any more building permits that require a water hook up. If you want to build a new house, you have to ‘acquire’ an existing water permit somehow.
The water shortage is not a new issue. It has been going on for a long time right along with the conservation of electricity. We have all stepped up to the plate to help with conservation in both areas but these two utilities have refused to do anything to help improve the situation.
Water districts should be building more reservoirs to capture run off rain fall that goes to the ocean and electric companies should be building more power plants even, yes, nuclear plants. Instead they are more concerned about profits and keep asking us to conserve, conserve, conserve. Really, at some time we will if not already reached a point of diminishing returns and I think we are getting very close to that point.
I think Santa Barbara has the right idea. No more building permits that require water hook up. We also need to build facilities to produce more water and electricity. Investors may have to take a slight hiatus on their returns while new facilities are built.