Arcadia Municipal Code § 7553.8 Conservation Phase Implementation

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(Division 3 added by Ord. 1930 adopted 2-5-91)

There is hereby established a City of Arcadia Water Conservation Plan.

It is hereby declared that, because of the conditions prevailing in the City of Arcadia and in the areas of this State and elsewhere from which the city obtains its water supplies, the general welfare requires that the water resources available to the City to be put to the maximum beneficial use to the extent to which they are capable, and that the waste or unreasonable use or unreasonable method of use of water be prevented, and the conservation of such waters is to be exercised with a view to the reasonable and beneficial use thereof in the interests of the people of the City and for the public welfare.

Pursuant to Arcadia City Charter Sections 415 and 419, the Council of the City of Arcadia hereby finds and declares that there exists within this City a water shortage emergency condition and that, as a result, there is an urgent necessity to take legislative action through the exercise of the police power to protect the public peace, health and safety of this City from a public disaster or calamity.

The purpose of this Urgency Ordinance is to provide a mandatory water conservation plan to minimize the effect of a shortage of water to the customers of the City and, by means of this Urgency Ordinance, to adopt provisions that will significantly reduce the consumption of water over an extended period of time, thereby extending the available water required for the customers of the City while reducing the hardship of the City and the general public to the greatest extent possible.

The following words and phrases, whenever used in this Urgency Ordinance, shall be construed as defined in this section unless from the context a different meaning is intended or unless a different meaning is specifically defined within individual sections of this Urgency Ordinance.

7553.4.1. "Customer" means any person, persons, association, corporation or governmental agency supplied or entitled to be supplied with water service by the Water Division.

7553.4.2. "Base period" means that period of time over which the base is computed.

7553.4.3. "Base" means the amount of water used on a customer's premises during the corresponding billing period as determined by the Water Division.

Any customer who was not a customer on the premises for which service was billed by the Water Division during the base period shall be assigned the same base for such or similar premises as provided above, and the Water Division shall have the further discretion to adjust such base in the event such customer's use of the premises is substantially different from the previous use thereof during the base period.

7553.4.4. "Billing unit" means the unit amount of water used to apply water rates for purposes of calculating commodity charges for customer water usage and equals one hundred (100) cubic feet or seven hundred forty-eight (748) gallons of water.

The various officers, boards, departments, bureaus and agencies of the City are authorized and directed to immediately implement the applicable provisions of this Urgency Ordinance upon the effective date hereof.

The provisions of this Urgency Ordinance shall apply to all customers and property served by the Water Division wherever situated, and shall also apply to all property and facilities owned, maintained, operated or under the jurisdiction of the various officers, boards, departments, bureaus or agencies of the City.

No customer of the Water Division shall make, cause, use, or permit the use of water from the Water Division for residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, governmental, or any other purpose in a manner contrary to any provision of this Urgency Ordinance or in an amount in excess of that use permitted by the conservation phase then in effect pursuant to action taken by the City Council in accordance with the provisions of this Urgency Ordinance.

(a) There shall be no hose washing of sidewalks, walkways, driveways, or parking areas.

(b) There shall be no hose washing of a motor vehicle, except where the hose is fitted with a shut-off nozzle or similar device that causes the hose to cease dispensing water immediately when not in use.

(c) No water shall be used to clean, fill or maintain levels in decorative fountains unless such water is part of a recirculating system.

(d) No restaurant, hotel, cafe, cafeteria, bar or other public place where food or beverage is served or offered for sale, shall serve drinking water to any customer unless expressly requested by the customer.

(e) No hotel or motel shall launder towels and linens of an occupied guestroom on a daily basis, unless expressly requested by the guest. The hotel or motel shall prominently display a notice in each guestroom of the guest's option not to have towels and linens laundered daily.

(f) No customer of the Water Division shall permit water to leak from any facility on his premises.

(g) No lawn, landscape, or other turf areas shall be watered or irrigated between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Pacific time.

(h) No lawn, landscape, or other turf areas shall be watered or irrigated during and within 48 hours after measurable rainfall.

(i) No lawn, landscape, or other turf areas shall be watered or irrigated more than 3 days per week, or such other number of days as the City Council may prescribe by resolution from time to time. The three days per week shall be Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday or such other days as the City Council may prescribe by resolution from time to time. Notwithstanding the foregoing, upon written application to and approval by the City's Public Works Services Director, an owner of property used primarily for commercial, industrial or institutional purposes may irrigate lawn, landscape or other turf areas of such property such number of days per week as approved by the Public Works Services Director if such owner provides evidence, to the satisfaction of the Public Works Services Director, that the owner has reduced overall bi-monthly water use for such property by at least twenty-five percent (25%) from the same bi-monthly period in 2013, or by such other measurement of reduction adopted by resolution of the City Council from time to time.

(j) No lawn, landscape or other turf areas shall be watered in a wasteful manner. For example, in a manner that causes runoff such that water flows onto adjacent property, non-irrigated areas, private and public walkways, roadways, parking lots, or structures.

(k) Additional restrictions and conservation measures may be adopted from time to time by resolution of the City Council and shall become effective upon their adoption. Any and all such restrictions and measures shall be subject to all enforcement provisions, including without limitation fines and penalties, as are otherwise applicable to the provisions set forth in this Section 7533.7.l.

(Ord. No. 2327, § 1, 4-21-15)

No use of water may be made contrary to the provisions of subsection 7553.7.1.

No customer shall make, cause use or permit the use of water from the Water Division for any purpose in an amount in excess of ninety percent (90%) of the amount used during the base period as defined in this Urgency Ordinance.

No use of water may be made contrary to the provisions of subsection 7553.7.1.

No customer shall make, cause, use or permit the use of water from the Water Division for any purpose in an amount in excess of eighty-five percent (85%) of the amount used during the base period as defined in this Urgency Ordinance.

No use of water may be made contrary to the provisions of subsection 7553.7.1.

No customer shall make, cause, or permit the use of water from the Water Division for any purpose in an amount in excess of eighty percent (80%) of the amount used during the base period as defined in this Urgency Ordinance.

No use of water may be made contrary to the provisions of subsection 7553.7.1.

No customer shall make, cause, use or permit the use of water from the Water Division for any purpose in an amount in excess of seventy-five percent (75%) of the amount used during the base period as defined by this Urgency Ordinance.

No use of water may be made contrary to the provisions of Section 7553.7.1.

(Added by Ord. 2036 adopted 4-4-95)

No customer shall make, cause, use or permit the use of water from the Water Division for any purpose in an amount in excess of seventy percent (70%) of the amount used during the base period as defined in this Ordinance.

(Added by Ord. 2036 adopted 4-4-95)

No use of water may be made contrary to the provisions of Section 7553.7.1.

(Added by Ord. 2036 adopted 4-4-95)

No customer shall make, cause, use or permit the use of water from the Water Division for any purpose in an amount in excess of sixty percent (60%) of the amount used during the base period as defined in this ordinance.

(Added by Ord. 2036 adopted 4-4-95)

No use of water may be made contrary to the provisions of Section 7553.7.1.

(Added by Ord. 2036 adopted 4-4-95)

No customer shall make, cause, use or permit the use of water from the Water Division for any purpose in an amount in excess of fifty percent (50%) of the amount used during the base period as defined in this Ordinance.

(Added by Ord. 2036 adopted 4-4-95)

The prohibited uses of water from the Water Division provided for by subsection 7553.7.1. of this Urgency Ordinance are not applicable to that use of water necessary for public health and safety or for essential governmental services such as police, fire, and other similar emergency services.

(Renumbered by Ord. 2036 adopted 4-4-95)

The Water Division shall monitor and evaluate the projected supply and demand for water by its customers, and shall recommend to the City Council the extent of the conservation required by the customers of the Water Division in order for the Water Division to prudently plan for and supply water to its customers. Thereafter, the City Council, by Resolution, may order that the appropriate phase of water conservation be implemented, modified or rescinded in accordance with the applicable provisions of this Urgency Ordinance. Said Resolution shall become effective immediately upon adoption by the City Council and shall be published one time only in a daily newspaper of general circulation. The customer percentage curtailment provisions shall take effect with the first full billing period commencing on or after the effective date of the adoption by the City Council.

Nothing contained in this Urgency Ordinance shall be deemed to require any customer of the Water Division to reduce his consumption of water provided by the Water Division to an amount less than twenty (20) billing units bimonthly at each meter during any billing period.

It shall be unlawful and a misdemeanor for any customer to fail to comply with any provision of this Urgency Ordinance. Civil penalties for failure to comply with any of the provisions of this Urgency Ordinance shall be as follows:

For the first violation by any customer of the Water Division of any of the provisions of subsections 7553.7.2, 7553.7.3, 7553.7.4, 7553.7.5, 7553.7.6, 7553.7.7 and 7553.7.8, a surcharge penalty, in addition to the current water rate, is hereby imposed in an amount equal to two times the current water rate for those billing units used in excess of base.

(Amended by Ord. 2036 adopted 4-4-95)

For the second violation by any customer of the Water Division of any of the provisions of subsections 7553.7.2, 7553.7.3, 7553.7.4, 7553.7.5, 7553.7.6, 7553.7.7 and 7553.7.8, a surcharge penalty, in addition to the current water rate, is hereby imposed in an amount equal to three times the current water rate for those billing units used in excess of base.

(Amended by Ord. 2036 adopted 4-4-95)

For the third violation by any customer of the Water Division of any of the provisions of subsections 7553.7.2, 7553.7.3, 7553.7.4, 7553.7.5, 7553.7.6, 7553.7.7 and 7553.7.8, a surcharge penalty, in addition to the current water rate, is hereby imposed in an amount equal to four times the current water rate for those billing units used in excess of base.

(Amended by Ord. 2036 adopted 4-4-95)

Penalties will be assessed for a billing period in which a violation occurs. The first, second, and third violations will be determined by the number of items in the preceding twelve (12) months in which violations have occurred.

• CREDITS TOWARD WATER UNITS USED IN EXCESS OF ALLOTMENT (WATER BANKING PROGRAM).

During Phases II through VIII of the Mandatory Water Conservation Plan, a customer whose water use is below the allotment for that billing period may carry forward this underused amount of water as credit to a future billing period ("banking"). This underused amount of water may offset the use of water in excess of the allotment in a succeeding billing period or periods when a penalty would have been charged for overuse of water. When a customer has exhausted all credits, penalties as outlined in Sections 7553.9.1, 7553.9.1.1 and 7553.9.1.2 shall apply to water units used in excess of the allotment.

Every time Phases II through VIII of the Mandatory Water Conservation Plan are rescinded by Resolution of the City Council, all credits in the bank will be returned to zero and will not be carried over from one period of mandatory conservation to another.

(Added by Ord. 2036 adopted 4-4-95)

The rights of the Water Division hereunder shall be cumulative to any other right of the Water Division to discontinue service. All moneys collected by the Water Division pursuant to any of the penalty provisions of this Urgency Ordinance shall be deposited in the Water Revenue Fund.

Revenue collected as a result of penalties imposed by this Urgency Ordinance shall be used for, but not limited to, the administration of this Urgency Ordinance, the purchase of imported water, increasing water supplies, maintenance of the City of Arcadia's water system, and water conservation efforts including public education.

A Water Appeals Board is hereby established to hear appeals as set forth in this Urgency Ordinance. Any customer against whom a penalty is levied pursuant to Section 7553.9 et seq. or who is dissatisfied with their base allotments shall have the right to an office conference before representatives of the Water Division, and if still aggrieved following that proceeding may appeal to the Water Appeals Board. The Water Appeals Board shall be comprised of three representatives from city departments as designated by the City Manager.

The following procedural requirements shall apply with regard to the office conference and appeal:

(a) Request for an office conference must be filed in writing with the Water Division within ten (10) working days after receipt of the water bill. The customer must state the grounds for his request in writing.

(b) The office conference shall occur within ten (10) working days of receipt of the request.

(c) The Water Division shall render a decision within ten (10) working days of the office conference.

(d) An appeal may be filed within ten (10) working days after a final decision by the Water Division to the Water Appeals Board. The appeal should state the grounds upon which it is based, and what remedy, if any, the Appellant seeks.

The Water Division shall have the power, upon the filing by a customer of an application for relief as herein provided, to take such steps as it deems reasonable and to set up such procedures as it considers necessary to resolve said application for relief. In determining whether relief shall be granted, all relevant factors including, but not limited to, the following shall be considered:

(1) Whether any additional reduction in water consumption will result in unemployment;

(2) Whether additional members have been added to the household;

(3) Whether any additional landscaped property has been added to the base period property;

(4) Changes in vacancy factors in multi-family housing;

(5) Increased number of employees in commercial, industrial, and governmental offices;

(6) Increased production requiring increased water;

(7) Necessary water uses during new construction;

(8) Adjustments to water use caused by emergency health or safety hazards;

(9) First filling of a permit-constructed swimming pool;

(10) Water use necessary for reasons related to family illness or health.

No relief shall be granted to any customer for any reason in the absence of a showing by the customer that he has achieved the maximum practical reduction in water consumption, as the case may be, other than in the specific area in which relief is being sought. No relief shall be granted to any customer who, when requested by the Water Division, fails to provided the Water Division with information whereby the services provided to him can be classified for the purpose of establishing an appropriate base or classification pursuant to the provisions of this chapter. If an action on the application for relief is mutually agreed upon between the Water Division and the customer, the agreement shall be in writing and signed by the customer, and no appeal on the application may be made by the customer.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any wilful misrepresentation of a material fact by any person to the Water Division or to the Water Appeals Board, made for purpose of securing relief from the provisions of this Urgency Ordinance for any customer, is unlawful; and a violation of this subsection shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding the sum of five hundred dollars ($500), or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed six (6) months, or by both such fine and imprisonment.

The Water Division shall enforce the provisions of this Urgency Ordinance.

The Water Division shall provide water to its customers in accordance with the provisions of this Urgency Ordinance, and in a manner reasonably calculated to effectuate the intent hereof.

If any customer fails to comply with any provision of this Urgency Ordinance, the Water Division may reduce the amount of water provided to that customer to the level which that customer would be using said water if he were complying with the provisions of this Urgency Ordinance. The provisions of this subsection shall be applied in lieu of, or in addition to, any other penalties provided in this Chapter, in the discretion of the Water Division, and shall be applied without regard to the status or nature of the customer.

Nothing contained in this Urgency Ordinance shall be construed to require the Water Division to curtail the supply of water to any customer when, in the discretion of the Water Division or the Water Appeals Board, such water is required by that customer to maintain an adequate level of public health and safety.

At the written request of the Water Manager, all customers of the Water Division using twenty-five thousand (25,000) billing units per year or more shall submit a water conservation plan to the Water Division on a form and with a content approved by the Water Manager. These users shall thereafter submit quarterly reports to the Water Division on the progress of their conservation plans.

This Urgency Ordinance and the actions hereafter taken pursuant thereto are exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 as a project undertaken as specific action necessary to prevent or mitigate an emergency pursuant to Section 15269 (c) of the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines and Public Resources Code Section 21080 (4).