Drought restrictions are back in Pismo Beach. Here’s what you can and can’t do
Drought restrictions are back in San Luis Obispo County.
On Tuesday, Pismo Beach became one of the first local cities to declare a “moderately restricted water supply condition,” meaning residents will once again be asked to conserve water, including stopping some high-water-waste activities.
The city last implemented similar drought restrictions in 2014.
Here’s what is not allowed in Pismo Beach:
- Use of water that results in excessive gutter runoff.
- Outdoor water use, except irrigation.
Outdoor irrigation between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. or 48 hours after measurable rainfall.
- Cleaning driveways, patios, parking lots, sidewalks, streets, or other such uses with water, except by city street sweeper, or where necessary to protect the public health and safety.
- Using potable water in decorative water features that do not recirculate the water.
- Using potable water for compaction or dust control purposes in construction activities.
Other things that change under the drought restrictions are:
- Restaurants can serve drinking water only in response to a specific request by a customer.
- Hotels and motels must provide guests with the option of not having towels and linens laundered daily.
- When washing cars or boats, water use must constantly be attended and you must use a hand-controlled watering device like a spring-loaded shutoff nozzle.
- Even-numbered addresses may only irrigate Mondays and Thursdays, while odd-numbered addresses may irrigate on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Violating these restrictions will lead to a warning letter on the first offense, and subsequent offenses will be met with increasing fines, starting at $100, according to a city news release.
For more tips on water conservation please visit: ThinkH2onow.com.
Why is Pismo Beach declaring restricted water supply?
According to data provided by Pismo Beach Public Works Director Ben Fine, in recent years, the city’s annual water use has stayed roughly around 1,700 acre-feet (one acre foot of water is equal to 325,851 gallons).
In 2020, the city used 1,777 acre-feet of water, up from 1,646 acre-feet the year before.
How much water the city will need each year and how much is available is dependent on a number of different factors, Fine said, including water allotments from the state and Lopez Lake water levels.
That can make it tricky to determine when the city’s water demand might outpace its supply, but given current trends and without any sort of conservation or rainfall, Fine said the city “would have a hard time meeting current demand past the middle of 2024.
“However, despite the fact that we are in a drought, I strongly feel we will see some rainfall over the next winter, which would move that date out further,” Fine said.
Fine added that he believes Pismo Beach residents will take water conservation seriously, which could also extend the city’s water supply for much longer.
This story was originally published June 5, 2021 at 11:00 AM.
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