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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2678 Water Conservation Measure Repeals 1916 & 2625ORDINANCE NO. ,~/~f~> AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING WATER CONSERVATION MEASURES IN THE CITY OF ASHLAND, REPEALING ORDINANCES 1916 AND 262~AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY RECITALS: A. In order to conserve the city's water supply for the greatest public benefit, and to reduce the quantity of water used by the City's customers, wasteful use of water should be eliminated. B. The City has a legal responsibility to provide for the health and safety water needs of its inhabitants. In order to minimize the social and economic impact of water shortages, the City must manage water supplies prudently. C. The following conservation program triggering levels of conservation stages implements a prudent management of water supply during water shortages. THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF ASHLAND DO ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Chapter 14.06 is added to the Ashland Municipal Code and shall read as follows: ChaDter 14.06 WATER CONSERVATION Sections: 14.06.010 14.06.020 14.06.030 14.06.035 14.06.060 14.06.080 14.06.090 Definitions. Determination of water shortage. Water curtailment stages. Water Allocation Table. Exceptions and appeals. Excess water consumption surcharge. Penalties and enforcement. 14.06.010 Definitions. The following words and phrases whenever used in this chapter shall be construed as defined in this section unless from the context a different meaning is intended. A. "Billing period" means that period used by the City for the reading of water meters consisting of approximately 30 calendar days. No penalties or enforcement procedures shall be imposed if the customer can show compliance within a 30 day period. B. "City water" means water sold or delivered by the City of Ashland and includes Talent Irrigation District water delivered through the City's water system. C. "Cf" means cubic feet. PAGE 1-WATER CONSERVATION ORDINANCE (p:orU\watr-ffU.0rd)(A$ AD0~£O 8¥ C~C~[) B. "Customer" means that person designated in City records to receive bills for water service. C. "Multi-family dwelling" means a building containing three or more residential units as defined in the Ashland Land Use Ordinance. D. "Outside plants" means grass, lawns, ground-cover, shrubbery, gardens, crops, vegetation and trees not located within a fully enclosed building. E. "Permanent resident" means a person who resides at the dwelling at least five days a week, nine months a year. F. "Water Allocation Table" means that table of meter types and sizes and maximum volumes of water set forth in section 14.06.035. G. "Waste" means: 1. To use city water to irrigate outside plants between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. except for drip irrigation or in such a manner as to result in runoff for more than five minutes. 2. To use city water to wash sidewalks, walkways, streets, driveways, parking lots, open ground or other hard surfaced areas except where necessary for public health or safety. 3. To allow city water to escape from breaks within a plumbing system for more than 24 hours after the person who owns or is in control of the system is notified or discovers the break. 4. To use city water to wash cars, boats, trailers, aircraft, or other vehicles by hose without using a shutoff nozzle except to wash such vehicles at commercial or fleet vehicle washing facilities using water recycling equipment. 5. To serve city water for drinking at a restaurant, hotel, cafe, cafeteria or other public place where food is sold, served or offered for sale, to any person unless expressly requested by such person. 6. To use city water to clean, fill or maintain decorative fountains, lakes or ponds unless all such water is recirculated. 7. Except for purposes of building construction, to use city water for construction, compaction, dust control, cleaning or wetting or for building washdown (except in preparation for painting). PAGE 2-WATER CONSERVATION ORDINANCE (p:ord\watr-ffd.ord)¢A$ AD0PT£D S¥ ¢~CIL) 8. To use city water for filling swimming pools or for filling toy, play or other pools with a capacity in excess of 100 gallons, provided, however, that water may be added to swimming pools to replace volume lost due to evaporation. 14.06.020 Determination of water shortaqe. A. The city administrator is authorized to institute emergency water curtailment measures upon determination that a water shortage emergency condition exists. Such determination shall be based on an analysis of the demand for water in the city, the volume of water in Reeder Reservoir, the standard drawdown curve for Reeder Reservoir, the projected curtailment date for Talent Irrigation District water and flows in the east and west forks of Ashland Creek. B. The determination of the city administrator under this section shall be effective until the next council meeting following such determination at which time the council shall either ratify or invalidate the determination. C. The city administrator is authorized to terminate water curtailment measures upon determination that a water shortage emergency condition no longer exists. Such determination shall be based upon the factors listed in section 14.06.020. The termination shall become effective at the next council meeting following the determination of the city administrator at which time the council shall either ratify or invalidate the determination. 14.06.030 Water curtailment stages. Depending on the severity of the potential water shortage, the city administrator may implement the following water curtailment stages. During any stage, no person shall waste city water. A. Stage 1. The following restrictions are effective during water curtailment Stage 1: 1. No customer shall receive through the water meter assigned to such customer more than the maximum volume of water for such meter indicated for Stage 1 in the Water Allocation Table. 2. Government agencies, including but not limited to parks, schools, colleges and municipalities may have separate account allotments combined into one "agency" allotment and are exempt from Stage 1 restrictions if their water consumption is otherwise reduced by 20% from the volume of water delivered in the same billing period for the first previous non-water curtailment year. B. Stage 2. The following restrictions are effective during water curtailment Stage 2: 1. No customer shall receive through the water meter assigned to such customer more than the maximum volume of water PAGE 3-WATER CONSERVATION ORDINANCE (p:ord\watr-ffd.ord)(A$ ADOPI£D 8¥ COUNCI[) for such meter indicated for Stage 2 in the Water Allocation Table. 2. Government agencies, including but not limited to parks, schools, colleges and municipalities may have separate account allotments combined into one "agency" allotment and are exempt from Stage 2 restrictions if their water consumption is otherwise reduced by 30% from the volume of water delivered in the same billing period for the first previous non-water curtailment year. c. Stage 3. The following restrictions are effective during water curtailment Stage 3: 1. No customer shall receive through the water meter assigned to such customer more than the maximum volume of water for such meter indicated for Stage 3 in the Water Allocation Table. 2. Government agencies, including but not limited to parks, schools, colleges and municipalities may have separate account allotments combined into one "agency" allotment and are exempt from 3 restrictions if their water consumption is otherwise reduced by 40% from the volume of water delivered in the same billing period for the first previous non-water curtailment year. D. Stage 4. The following restrictions are effective during water curtailment Stage 4: 1. No customer shall receive through the water meter assigned to such customer more than the maximum volume of water for such meter indicated for Stage 4 in the Water Allocation Table. 2. Government agencies, including but not limited to parks, schools, colleges and municipalities may have separate account allotments combined into one "agency" allotment and are exempt from Stage 4 restrictions if their water consumption is otherwise reduced by 50% from the volume of water delivered in the same billing period for the first previous non-water curtailment year. 3. No city water shall be used to irrigate outside plants, except for trees, shrubs and food plants. PAGE 4-WATER CONSERVATION ORDINANCE (p:ord\watr-ffd.ord)(AS ADOPTED 8Y COUNCIL) 14.06.035 Water Allocation Table. Meter Maximum volume in cf per billing period Type Size Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 All single All family sizes: residential 5/8", 3,600 2,700 1,800 900 ("R") meters: 3/4", 1" R-A, R-B, R-C 1.5" All All 2,500 1,900 1,300 700 condominium sizes per per per per ("CO") meters unit unit unit unit C C-A 3/4" 6,400 5,400 3,300 2,300 o m C-B 1" 9,200 7,800 5,000 3,500 m C-C 1 1/2" 23,000 18,100 10,600 6,600 e r C-D 2" 33,000 28,000 18,900 13,700 c i C-E 3" 43,000 38,000 29,000 25,000 a 1 C-F 4" 129,000 110,000 74,000 55,000 Irrigation-001 37,800 30,400 16,000 0 All other meters* -20% -30% -40% -50% *Customers with meter types and sizes not listed shall reduce the volume of water delivered in the same billing period for the first previous non-water curtailment year by the percentage indicated. 14.06.060 Exemptions and apDeals. A. Any person who wishes to be exempted from a restriction imposed by any water conservation stage shall do so in writing and file a request for exemption in writing with the Director of Public Works. B. Request for exemptions shall be in writing and state the reasons such exemption is necessary. Requests will be investigated and reviewed by the Director or Public Works and site visits scheduled if required. C. Exemptions may be granted for the following: 1. Any person with substantial medical requirements as prescribed by a physician. 2. Residential connections with more than four permanent residents in a single family residence or three permanent residents per unit in a multi-family dwelling can receive up to 350 cf per month per additional permanent resident. PAGE 5-WATER CONSERVATION ORDINANCE (p:ord\watr-ffd.ord)(A$ ADOPI£D 8¥ COUNCIL) A census may be conducted to determine the actual number of permanent residents per living unit. 3. For commercial or industrial accounts where water supply reductions will result in unemployment or decrease production, after confirmation by the City that the account has instituted all applicable water efficiency improvements. 4. During Stage 1 or 2, for any use or connection, if rains occurring after the declaration of a stage cause Reeder Reservoir to temporarily reach its capacity or overflow so that surplus water is available. 5. For any other reason upon showing of good cause and where necessary for public health or safety. 6. For commercial accounts where the water meter is undersized (as determined under the Uniform Plumbing Code) for the current occupancy, the allocation for such accounts may be increased up to the allocation for the water meter size designated for such occupancy in the Uniform Plumbing Code. D. The Director of Public Works shall report to the city administrator the findings and conclusions resulting from the investigation and review. The city administrator shall approve or deny the request for exemptions and may impose conditions. Such conditions may include the amount volume restrictions may be exceeded and that all applicable plumbing fixtures or irrigation systems be replaced or modified for maximum water conservation. If the city administrator and the applicant are unable to reach accord on the exemption, or if the applicant is dissatisfied with the city administrator's decision, the applicant may appeal to the Council who will make the final determination. E. Except for an exemption granted under section 14.06.060.C.2 and C.6, the water consumption surcharge specified in section 14.06.080 shall apply to all exemptions. 14.06.080 Excess water consumption surcharge. Any customer who exceeds the maximum volumes established in the Water Allocation Table for Stages 1, 2 or 3 shall pay a surcharge of four times the rate for water delivered in excess of the established maximum volume. During Stage 4, any customer who exceeds the maximum volumes established in the Water Allocation Table shall pay a surcharge of ten times the rate for water delivered in excess of the established maximum volume. 14.06.090 Penalties and enforcement. The penalties for violations of this chapter shall be cumulative in that they may be in addition to, not in lieu of, other penalties, remedies or surcharges established by this chapter. A. A person shall not violate or procure, aid or abet in the violation of any provision of this chapter. A violation of PAGE 6-WATER CONSERVATION ORDINANCE (p:ord\wat~-ffd.ord)(A$ ADOPTED BY COUNCI[) any provision of this chapter is an infraction and shall be punished as set forth in section 1.08.020 of the Municipal Code. B. If a customer exceeds the maximum volume for more than one billing period, the City may install a flow restricting device at the service meter which reduces water flow and pressure. For services up to one and one-half inch size the City may install a flow restricting device of two gallon-per-minute capacity, and for larger services, comparatively sized restricting devices for larger services, for a period of seven days. Before normal service will be restored, a flow restrictor installation and removal charge of $100 shall be paid by the person who subscribes for the water service. C. Service may be terminated to any customer who knowingly and willfully violates any provision of this chapter. SECTION 2. Classification of the fee. The fees specified in Section 1 of this ordinance are classified as not subject to the limits of Section 11b of Article XI of the Oregon Constitution (Ballot Measure 5). SECTION 3. Repealer. Ordinances 2625 and 1916 are repealed on the effective date of this ordinance. SECTION 4. Declaration of emergency. This ordinance being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this Ordinance takes effect on its passage and approval by the Mayor. The foregoing ordinance was first READ on the 7th day of July, 1992, and duly PASSED and ADOPTED this 7th, day of July, 1992. Nan E. Franklin, City Recorder SIGNED and APPROVED this ~au~Nidl~t i~1°rA~ :t o r ney Catherine M. ~olden, Mayor PAGE 7-WATER CONSERVATION ORDINANCE (p:ord\watr-ffd.ord)(AS ADOPTED BY COUNCIL)