Valley of the Moon asks customers cut water use by 20%

The Valley of the Moon Water District (VOMWD) imposed new water use restrictions at its July board meeting, seeking a 20% overall reduction in water use for the months of July through October as compared to the same period in 2020.

The action was brought on by the historic drought in the region and recent reduced allocations of water supply from the regional wholesaler, Sonoma Water. This, in combination with declining groundwater well production due to a lack of rainfall to recharge the aquifer over the last two years, has led the district to move from voluntary conservation to mandatory water-use restrictions.

The district provided a list of "specific restrictions/prohibitions“ to its customers following the July 6 board meeting, as follows:

⁕ Washing sidewalks, walkways, driveways, parking lots and other hard-surfaced areas by direct hosing is prohibited, unless necessary for public health and safety.

⁕ Breaks or leaks must be corrected within 72 hours of discovery or notice from the district.

⁕ Irrigation in a manner that allows excessive runoff of water, or unreasonably over-sprays the area of irrigation is prohibited.

⁕ Use of potable water for non-recycling decorative water fountains is prohibited.

⁕ Use of water for single-pass evaporative cooling systems for air conditioning - for all connections installed after June 6, 2000, unless required for health or safety reasons - is prohibited.

⁕ Use of water for new, non-recirculating conveyor car wash systems is prohibited.

⁕ Use of water for new non-recirculating industrial clothes wash systems is prohibited.

⁕ Restaurants may only serve water upon request.

⁕ Hotels and lodging establishments must offer a linen service opt-out.

⁕ Irrigation of ornamental turf on public street medians with potable water is prohibited.

⁕ Irrigation with potable water outside of newly constructed homes and buildings that is not delivered by drip or microspray systems is prohibited.

⁕ Use of any garden or utility hose without a hose-end shutoff nozzle is prohibited.

⁕ Irrigation is limited to three days per week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and between the hours of midnight to 6 a.m.

⁕ Instead of using potable water, only recycled water may be used for construction dust control.

⁕ Car washing shall be allowed only at facilities using recycled or recirculating water.

⁕ Dedicated irrigation customers are required to conduct the District’s irrigation survey.

⁕ Use of water from a fire hydrant except for fighting fires is prohibited.

“We are really looking for the elimination of water waste,” said Matt Fullner, general manager of Valley of the Moon Water District, in a statement. “A lot of our customers are already doing a great job. Our biggest focus will be on irrigation system efficiency; our irrigated plants really need to be on bare-minimum life support this summer and early fall.”

For more information visit vomwd.org.