Alternate Day Irrigation / Watering Policy

Policy
It is the City of Lacey’s policy to use our potable water supplies in an efficient and responsible manner recognizing that it is a finite and valuable resource. The City’s Conservation plan relies heavily on reducing summer time peak water usage. Our daily demand nearly triples during warmer months. The largest contributor to summer consumption is outdoor watering. The conservation strategy is to modify the time when outdoor watering occurs to reduce this peak demand. The City’s goal is to reduce peak day demands by 15%. In order to accomplish this goal, an alternate day irrigation/watering policy is necessary.

As most outdoor watering is for sprinkling lawn and landscaping and most lawns require only one-inch of water per week to remain healthy, watering over the course of three days per week should easily allow enough time to water while also not allowing watering every day.

Irrigation/watering will be limited to three days per week during the months of June through September for all Lacey water utility customers. Customers at locations with an address ending in an odd number will be permitted to irrigate/water on Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday. Customers at locations with an address ending in an even number will be permitted to irrigate/water on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. No one will be permitted to irrigate/water on Friday except for those meeting the conditions for an exemption as described below.

Definitions
This policy applies to the application of water drawn from the City of Lacey’s water system to turf (grass), annual and perennial ornamental flower beds, vegetable gardens, potted plants, and any other landscaping plant material that is regularly maintained outside of a residence or commercial building on a property.

Water used for other purposes, e.g. car washing, pressure washing, swimming pool filling, is not restricted by this policy at this time. If limiting irrigation/watering per this policy fails to provide adequate reduction of peak day demands, this policy may be revised to limit other outdoor water uses. Please note that water wasting in the course of any water use is a violation of City of Lacey Ordinance 13.48.050.

Controlling legal authority
The need for the City to reduce peak day demand is discussed in the City’s current Water Conservation Plan. In addition, City of Lacey Ordinance 13.48.010 provides the City Water Department with the jurisdiction to establish rules governing sprinkling hours and water use. This policy is established under these authorities.

Exemptions
Under certain circumstances a customer will be exempted from the irrigation/watering policy. The three exemptions include the following:

Publicly-owned facilities with active playfields and scheduled activities,
Newly seeded lawns or newly planted landscape areas, and
Plants inside greenhouses, regardless of whether they are owned by commercial enterprises or hobbyists.

An example of a publicly-owned facility with scheduled activity is a soccer field in a City park. Failure to water turf daily receiving this sort of use will likely result in serious damage to the play field. Newly seeded lawns require daily, and often multiple times per day, irrigation until the seed germinates and the lawn establishes. Typically, a lawn started from seed will need daily irrigation up to a maximum of three months. New planted landscaped areas may require once daily watering for a few days or weeks. Water customers are encouraged to establish their lawns and plant new landscaping in the spring or fall so that such an exemption is not needed.

Enforcement
Enforcement will be handled in the progressive manner set forth in this section:

1. The first time that either a complaint is lodged by the public or an infraction is observed by City staff, the non-compliant customer will be sent educational materials via mail that informs the customer of this policy and the need for it.

2.
A customer account receiving a second complaint will receive a door hanger identifying that this is their second offense and that the City can terminate water service if there are additional instances of non-compliance.

3. A customer account receiving a third complaint will receive a door hanger identifying that the next instance of non-compliance will result in termination of water service.

4. The forth complaint will result in that account’s water service being shut off and a door hanger posted indicating the termination of water service. The water service will not be restored until the prescribed fee has been paid.

5. Subsequent instances of non-compliance at the same address in the same year will result in the water service again being terminated and a door hanger posted indicating the termination of water service. The water service will not be restored until the prescribed fee has been paid.

For the second and subsequent complaints, the complainant will sign an affidavit to the offense.

1.	The first time that either a complaint is lodged by the public or an infraction is observed by City staff, the non-compliant customer will be sent educational materials via mail that informs the customer of this policy and the need for it.
2.	A customer account receiving a second complaint will receive a door hanger identifying that this is their second offense and that the City can terminate water service if there are additional instances of non-compliance.
3.	A customer account receiving a third complaint will receive a door hanger identifying that the next instance of non-compliance will result in termination of water service.
4.	The forth complaint will result in that account’s water service being shut off and a door hanger posted indicating the termination of water service. The water service will not be restored until the prescribed fee has been paid.
5.	Subsequent instances of non-compliance at the same address in the same year will result in the water service again being terminated and a door hanger posted indicating the termination of water service. The water service will not be restored until the prescribed fee has been paid.