City Council adopted a resolution at their July 18, 2017, meeting ending the Level 1 Water Supply Watch Alert and returning the City to its standard Permanent Water Conservation Requirements (FVMC 14.18.040), effective July 19, 2017. This action was in response to Governor Brown’s Executive Order B-40-17 which declared an end to California’s drought state of emergency after a very wet winter that improved the State’s water supplies.
The end of the drought does not mean the end of water conservation. Fountain Valley has had permanent water conservation requirements in place since 2009 to promote the efficient use of water in the City at all times. These requirements include prohibiting outdoor watering between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., limiting watering to no more than 15 minutes per station per day, prohibiting water runoff from outdoor watering, prohibiting the washing down of hard or paved surfaces, and requiring leaks to be fixed within 3 days of notice. In addition, the City will continue to prohibit outdoor watering during and within 48 hours after measureable rainfall and not water turf on public street medians in compliance with the Governor’s and State Water Resources Control Board’s prohibitions against wasteful practices. For details, visit the City’s website at www.fountainvalley.org.
The big change is that watering days are no longer assigned, so customers can water on the days that are most convenient for them. However, the City encourages everyone to “Make Conservation a California Way of Life” by continuing the water-wise practices they adopted during the drought that reduced the City’s water use by over 20%, including limiting watering to no more than 3 days a week.