EID Lifts Drought Emergency, Watering Restrictions
Contact: Jesse Saich, (530) 642-4127, jsaich@eid.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Placerville, Calif. — At its May 9, 2016 meeting, the EID Board of Directors voted unanimously to rescind the district’s Stage 2 Drought Emergency that had been in effect since February 4, 2014. In addition, the watering restrictions in place since April of 2015 have been lifted effective immediately.
“We are very pleased to remove these state-mandated restrictions,” said EID General Manager Jim Abercrombie. “Prudent investment in infrastructure and the acquisition of additional water supplies have played an important role developing EID’s resilient water portfolio. And that supply has helped us get though some of the worst years of drought in California history.”
Also on May 9, Governor Brown issued a new executive order directing continued action aimed at using water wisely, reducing water waste, and improving water use efficiency statewide.
The executive order, in part, directs the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) to extend the emergency regulations for urban water conservation through the end of January 2017.
The State Water Board’s amended emergency regulation proposes replacing the state-developed standards with locally developed conservation standards based upon each agency’s specific circumstances.
The proposed regulation would require individual urban water suppliers like EID to self-certify the level of available water supplies they have assuming three additional dry years, and the level of conservation necessary to assure adequate supply over that time.
“Based on our supplies, we do not anticipate enacting mandatory conservation under the Governor’s new executive order,” said Abercrombie. “Our customers have done a tremendous job in conserving when we needed to meet the state-mandated requirements and I am encouraged to see the Governor acknowledge that long-term water use efficiency practices should be guided by local resources and conditions, rather than a broad statewide approach.”
The Governor’s order makes permanent some water waste restrictions that were initiated in 2015, including irrigating lawns in a way that causes runoff, using non-recirculated water in a fountain or other decorative water feature, watering within 48 hours of precipitation, hosing off sidewalks and driveways, washing automobiles with hoses that do not have a shut-off nozzle, and the use of potable water to irrigate turf in street medians.
EID’s Water Waste Prohibition (Administrative Regulation 1041) remains in effect all year and under all conditions. The regulation gives the district the ability to enforce prohibitions against water waste. To read the regulation, go to www.eid.org/waterwaste.
The district will continue to commit to maximizing water efficiency and conservation opportunities set forth in the State of California’s 20×2020 Water Conservation Plan. This plan provides a roadmap for maximizing the state’s urban water efficiency and conservation opportunities—including setting in motion a range of activities designed to achieve a 20 percent per capita reduction in urban water demand—between 2009 and 2020, and beyond.
