Glendale eases state-mandated water restrictions but urges continued conservation
Following the formal end of California’s drought state of emergency in April, the Glendale City Council eased water-use restrictions during a meeting last week, although Glendale Water & Power customers must still adhere to the city’s own water-conservation policies.
In 2015, Gov. Jerry Brown issued mandatory water-use restrictions across the state. The Glendale City Council quickly adopted an ordinance that limited watering to just two days a week, known as phase three of conservation.
Glendale later entered phase two this past summer, increasing the number of exterior irrigation days to Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, for 10 minutes per day.
Throughout the roughly three years of conservation efforts, Glendale Water & Power customers have saved more than 3.6 billions gallons of water, according to city documents.
Brown’s April executive order ending the drought state of emergency has allowed Glendale to move back from phase two to phase one — a council-mandated conservation phase that the city maintains at all times.
“We met every objective and goal that was put down by the state for us,” said Steve Zurn, general manager of Glendale Water & Power. “We’ve actually exceeded those, and I think we’ve done a very good job in doing our part to contributing toward [lessening] the impacts of the drought.”
Now, there are no watering restrictions in terms of days of the week or duration. However, Glendale Water & Power customers must still follow Glendale’s local water-conservation efforts, known as the No Water Waste Policy. For residents, watering is still not allowed between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., and that rule is accompanied by other measures in place to prevent waste.
Those include: No use of potable water for hose washing of hardscapes such as driveways; leaks must be fixed on-site within 72 hours; vehicle washing can only be done with a hand-held bucket and intermittent hose rinses; and fountains must use recirculation systems.
Although the drought emergency has ended, Councilwoman Paula Devine urged residents to continue their water-conserving practices.
“I hope that our residents don’t go overboard with the use of water,” Devine said. “We never know when there’s going to be another drought, so to go to excess or extreme use of water I think would be counterintuitive.”
For more information about the remaining restrictions, visit glendaleca.gov/nowaterwastepolicy.
Twitter: @JeffLanda
