Fairfield Municipal Code Art. 22.60 Water Emergencies and Water Shortage

Pursuant to California water code section 350, the city council may declare a water shortage emergency indicating water shortage stage following a duly noticed public meeting when it finds and determines that FMU will not be able to provide normal water service demands for its customers without depleting the water supply to the extent that water available would be insufficient for human health and safety needs and fire protection. The water shortage stages may be implemented in any reasonable order and shall continue to be in effect until the city council makes a determination to terminate the applicable water shortage stage.

A. Water shortage stages and shortage response actions shall be as provided in the City’s water shortage contingency plan, as updated from time to time and adopted by City Council. FMU may implement water shortage response actions as provided in the water shortage contingency plan for the corresponding water shortage stage in addition to mandated State prohibitions and restrictions.

B. The city council may adopt water shortage surcharge rates during a water shortage emergency to support FMU response actions to maintain sufficient water supply for human health and safety and fire protection.

C. The FMU director shall have discretion to determine that certain restrictions may be appropriate for implementation at an earlier stage and may recommend such restrictions for implementation to the City Council. The City Council may implement such additional restrictions as part of its declaration of a water shortage stage.

D. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event of an unforeseeable event such as wildfire or infrastructure failure, causing an immediate emergency or water shortage, the city manager is hereby authorized to declare a water emergency and, if so declared, shall initiate implementation of the appropriate and necessary provisions of the city’s emergency response plan and/or water shortage contingency plan. As soon as possible after such a declaration, the city manager shall make a full report on the water emergency to the city council. During any such water emergency, the city manager and his/her designees may take all steps necessary to protect and preserve the water system, and to protect the health and safety of customers and users, including but not limited to locking out nonessential water services, obtaining and making available temporary water supplies.

E. Consistent with the authorities in this section, FMU also reserves the right at any time to allocate its available water supply among its customers in a manner that it determines to be in the public interest in the event a water shortage condition exists for any reason.

(Ord. No. 2025-13, § 1 (Exh. A))

The provisions of this article may be enforceable and appealed as provided in sections 22.13 and 22.14. Under a water shortage emergency declaration, the city council may establish, and adopt by resolution, separate penalties and progressive fines associated with violation of the water shortage response actions in effect based on the corresponding water shortage stage. These penalties and fines are in addition to penalties provided under section 22.13, and shall remain in effect until the city council terminates the water shortage emergency.

A. In addition to the fines and penalties adopted by the city council, the customer shall be responsible for the city’s cost for labor, equipment, materials, and administrative cost to make corrections.

B. In addition to the applicable fine, the city may install a flow restrictor on a customer’s water service connection for two months for a fourth and subsequent violation of this article during any water shortage stage. If no further violations of this article occur during this two-month period, the City shall remove the flow restrictor at the customer’s expense. If a violation occurs during this two-month period, the City may maintain the flow restrictor for an additional two months. The fee for the flow restrictor removal shall include reimbursement to the City for the cost of installation.

C. Any peace officer or City code enforcement officer shall have the authority to enforce the provisions of this article. FMU representatives designated by the FMU director shall also have the authority to write and deliver notices of violations pursuant to this article.

(Ord. No. 2025-13, § 1 (Exh. A))