Water Conservation & Drought

On July 6, 2021, the Clearlake Oaks County Water District Board of Directors voted unanimously to enact Level 2 of the District's Water Consevation & Shortage Response: Droughts and Emergencies; Please see below for an exerpt of Level 1 and Level 2 of this plan, for a full reading, please find the 'Water' Code listed under Customer Service.

Level 1:         

  a)   Lake Elevation is at or below +2.00 feet Rumsey on May 1st of the calendar year.

  b)   The recorded annual rainfall is at or below 20”

  c)    Clearlake Oaks County Water District’s Board of Directors has declared a Level 1 Drought Response                 condition.

GOAL: Voluntary measures to achieve 10% reduction in usage.

 

Level 2:         

  a) Lake Elevation is at or below +1.00 feet Rumsey on May 1st of the calendar year.

  b) The recorded annual rainfall is at or below 20”

  c) Emergency conditions related to reduced source, raw water quality, and/or treatment capacity

  d) Clearlake Oaks County Water District’s Board of Directors has declared a Level 2 Drought Response                condition.

GOAL: Voluntary measures to achieve 20% reduction in usage

 

During a Level 1 Drought Response condition, Clearlake Oaks County Water District will increase its public education and outreach efforts to emphasize increased public awareness of the need to implement the following voluntary water conservation practices:

  1. Stop washing down paved surfaces, including but not limited to sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, tennis courts, or patios, except when it is necessary to alleviate safety or sanitation hazards.
  2. Stop water waste resulting from inefficient landscape irrigation, such as runoff, low head drainage, or overspray, etc. Similarly, stop water flows onto non-targeted areas, such as adjacent property, non-irrigated areas, hardscapes, roadways, or structures.
  3. Irrigate residential and commercial landscape before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m. only.
  4. Use a hand-held hose equipped with a positive shut-off nozzle or bucket to water landscaped areas, including trees and shrubs located on residential and commercial properties that are not irrigated by a landscape irrigation system.
  5. Irrigate nursery and commercial grower’s products before 10 a.m. and after 6 p.m. only. Watering is permitted at any time with a hand-held hose equipped with a positive shut-off nozzle, a bucket, or when a drip/micro-irrigation system/equipment is used. Irrigation of nursery propagation beds is permitted at any time. Watering of livestock is permitted at any time.
  6. Use re-circulated water to operate ornamental fountains.
  7. Wash vehicles using a bucket and a hand-held hose with positive shut-off nozzle, mobile high pressure/low volume wash system, or at a commercial site that re-circulates (reclaims) water on-site. Avoid washing during hot conditions when additional water is required due to evaporation.
  8. Serve and refill water in restaurants and other food service establishments only upon request.
  9. Offer guests in hotels, motels, and other commercial lodging establishments the option of not laundering towels and linens daily.
  10. Repair all water leaks within five (5) days of notification by the Clearlake Oaks County Water District unless other arrangements are made with the General Manager.
  11. Use recycled or non-potable water for construction purposes when available.

 

During a Level 2 Drought Response condition, all persons using Clearlake Oaks County Water District water will voluntarily use Level 1 Drought Response water conservation practices during a Level 2 Drought Alert, and will voluntarily use the following additional conservation measures:

  1. Limit residential and commercial landscape irrigation to no more than three assigned days per week on a schedule established by Clearlake Oaks County Water District. During the months of November through May, landscape irrigation is limited to no more than once per week on a schedule established by the General Manager and posted by the Clearlake Oaks County Water District. This section shall not apply to commercial growers or nurseries.

         The District has established an irrigation schedule consisting of odd numbered addresses irrigate on odd           number dates and even numbered addresses irrigate on even number dates. 

For Example: If your address is 12952, your can irrigate on the 2nd , 4th, 6th, etc. of the calendar month.

  1. Limit lawn watering and landscape irrigation using sprinklers to no more than ten (10) minutes per watering station per day. This provision does not apply to landscape irrigation systems using water efficient devices, including but not limited to: weather based controllers, drip/micro-irrigation systems and stream rotor sprinklers.
  2. Water landscaped areas, including trees and shrubs located on residential and commercial properties, and not irrigated by a landscape irrigation system governed by section 6 (b) (1), on the same schedule set forth in section 6 (b) (1) by using a bucket, hand-held hose with positive shut-off nozzle, or low-volume non-spray irrigation.
  3. Repair all leaks within seventy-two (72) hours of notification by the Clearlake Oaks County Water District unless other arrangements are made with the General Manager.
  4. Stop operating ornamental fountains or similar decorative water features unless recycled water is used.