Mandatory Water Restrictions Imposed on Entire City of Livermore

The Livermore City Council adopted an interim emergency ordinance on May 12, 2014, to implement mandatory conservation measures throughout the entire city.

When the mandatory measures were originally enacted on April 15, they applied only to customers served by the City of Livermore Municipal Water utility, which provides water service to approximately one-third of the city; the balance of Livermore is served by the California Water Service Company.

"The entire City of Livermore, along with the rest of the Tri-Valley, is affected by the drought. If conservation targets are not achieved by all of us before early summer, it will severely reduce the water supplies remaining to provide for any outdoor irrigation later in the summer. Outdoor irrigation water we save in the first half of the summer is water that will be available for irrigation in the second half of the summer," said Public Works Director Daniel McIntyre.

The City Council also amended the Water Conservation Ordinance to facilitate the programming of automatic irrigation controllers to comply with the mandatory measures for outdoor irrigation.

Days for watering change
Previously, properties with odd street address numbers were limited to irrigating no more than twice a week on odd dates; even street address numbers were limited to irrigating no more than twice a week on even dates. Under the revised ordinance, properties with odd street address numbers are allowed to water no more than twice a week on Monday, Wednesday or Friday instead of on odd dates, and properties with even street address numbers are allowed to water no more than twice a week on Tuesday, Thursdays or Saturdays instead of on even dates. No watering is allowed on Sundays.

"We appreciate our citizens' efforts to comply with the City's call to cut outdoor water use in half," said McIntyre. "By amending the ordinance, we've made it more convenient for citizens with automatic sprinkler systems to do so."

Mandatory conservation measures include limiting landscape irrigation to no more than twice a week, no washing of driveways, sidewalks or other paved surfaces, and washing of vehicles limited to once a month unless a commercial carwash is used.

A complete list of the mandatory conservation measures, conservation tips and rebates, drought updates, and other information can be found on the City's website.  

Customers with questions or concerns are also encouraged to call the Drought Hotline at (925) 960-8180.

--Information from City of Livermore