The Pasadena City Council at its July 28, 2014 meeting declared a local water emergency, establishing a 20-percent conservation goal and implementing the City’s Level 1 Water Supply Shortage Plan, with mandatory water waste restrictions effective immediately.  The Level 1 plan limits watering to three days per week in summer, one day per week in winter and requires that leaks be repaired within 72 hours, in addition to permanent water waste prohibitions.

Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) customers can report water waste by calling (626) 744-8888 at any time or report online via the Pasadena Citizen Service Center at www.cityofpasadena.net/csc.  Fines for repeat offenders can be up to $500 per violation for residential customers, and up to $1,000 per violation for commercial accounts.  A complete list of water waste restrictions is available at www.PWPweb.com/WaterWaste.  Water-saving rebates and conservation tips are available at www.PWPweb.com/SaveWater.

“Pasadena already has restrictions in place and our customers have made exemplary efforts to conserve,” PWP Chief Deputy General Manager Eric Klinkner said.

“However, Pasadena’s water use has increased over the last few years due to a lack of rain and the improving economy.  Tonight’s City Council vote reiterates the significance of the drought and is a call to action for all of our customers to step up their efforts to conserve our precious water supplies,”  Klinkner said.

The City Council approved Pasadena’s existing Water Waste Prohibitions and Water Supply Shortage Plans Ordinance in 2009.  The key conservation measures currently in effect for all PWP water customers include:

  • Outdoor watering is limited to three days per week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, during the summer months.
  • No watering outdoors between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., except with a hand-held container or hose with a shut-off nozzle.
  • No watering during periods of rain.
  • All water leaks must be fixed within 72 hours.
  • No excessive water flow or runoff onto pavement, gutters or ditches from watering or irrigating landscapes or vegetation of any kind.
  • No washing down paved surfaces unless for safety or sanitation, in which case a bucket, a hose with a shut-off nozzle, a cleaning machine that recycles water or a low-volume/high-pressure water broom must be used.
  • No washing vehicles except by using a hand-held bucket or similar container or hose equipped with a water shut-off nozzle

Stay connected to the City of Pasadena!  For more information about PWP, visit www.PWPweb.com or follow on Twitter @PWPnews.  Visit the City online at www.cityofpasadena.net; follow us on Twitter @PasadenaGov, www.twitter.com/pasadenagov, and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cityofpasadena.  Or call the Citizen Service Center, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at (626) 744-7311.