Thoughts on watering ban

[harvey lee]

He may have been only getting the yard wet for the fertilizer but its still watering. Maybe one might fertilize when its ok to water. If they allow all the reasons evrybody wants then there would be no ban and the water would run out.

Just because the bag says to water does not mean you dont have to abide by the rules of watering.

[Abrams]

The problem is government is not armed with common sense or logic.

As Thoreau wrote; I heartily accept the motto, "That government is best which governs least"; and I should like to see it acted up to more rapidly and systematically.

[so haaad]

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The problem is government is not armed with common sense or logic.

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I'm guessing that if you turned on your faucet and no water came out, or if your house burned down because the city water supply ran dry, then you would also think the government had no common sense. Watering bans may seem petty on the surface, but remember that cities do not have an infinite amount of water. So I think it's better to be safe than sorry during severe droughts. I applaud any government who's actions are proactive rather than reactive, and recognizes that running out of water is a definite possibility.

[eurolarva]

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The problem is government is not armed with common sense or logic.

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I'm guessing that if you turned on your faucet and no water came out, or if your house burned down because the city water supply ran dry, then you would also think the government had no common sense. Watering bans may seem petty on the surface, but remember that cities do not have an infinite amount of water. So I think it's better to be safe than sorry during severe droughts. I applaud any government who's actions are proactive rather than reactive, and recognizes that running out of water is a definite possibility.

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Actually the city does have an infinite amount of water. They just dont have an infinite amount of pumping ability. That is why there is a watering ban. If everyone in the city turned their taps on full blast there would not be enough pressure to dispense that water flow.

[Abrams]

What about this situation that we are talking about? Does it pass the common sence test? For me it does not. He probably used the same amount of water you would use while showering or running the dish washer. He didn't threaten the city water supply. I understand why cities have watering bans. My city has one. It's not enforced, or it's not on my street. My question is this the role of govenment; worring about 25 gallons of water?

[Powerstroke]

I realize your position abrams, but the logic and common sense remains the same. If 100,000 all used an extra 25 gallons thats a lot of water. And running out of water is an actual possibility. We nearly did it last summer due to pumping ability and equipment failure. We probably wouldn't have had enough water to fight a fire.

You can use whatever terms you want, but like i said before, this is something that needs to be fixed in the language of the law. If the law doesn't allow for discretion, then everyone involved was just doing their job....except for maybe the PD chief neighbor. He's just being a nosy neightbor and ruining a relationship that might be there for 10-20 more years.

Your question "is this the role of Gov't, worrying about 25gallons?" The answer is yes. Its also their job to worry about en extra 10 miles an hour over the limit or an extra beer at closing time or if your lawn is over 8" and hasn't been cut or if we sell liquor to minors or whatever. The police can't enforce laws that don't exist so the people we elect make those laws. If you don't like them, change them. I'm all about smaller gov't too, but on the watering issue the reasons and rules are there for a reason.

[DTro]

As I said before the situation is done, especially since they just add it to my water bill, I'll just absorb it. I have no problem at all with the restriction and support them. However, I think commons sense does come into play here. I don't fault the neighbor for reporting it as I was probably in the back yard, he rode his bike by and saw the sprinklers on. He could have spent another minute to (Contact Us Please) the situation (5 minutes and they would have been off altogether), but whatever. I just really think the officers could have used their discretion/common sense. They do it all the time.... warnings for speeding, seatbelts etc. You can't tell me that it's all about the water, because if it was, then the recreational stuff would also be scrutinized (slip n slides, decorative sprinklers for plants, pools). I was told that they were all acceptable. I did make a point to him though when I spoke with him that I would be sure to make it a point to call 911 everytime I saw a violation from now on .

[so haaad]

Do I see a future FM slip-n-slide party at Darren's house??? I'm done with this topic, enjoy your day everyone.

[ScoutII]

5 minutes is more like 50 gallons. What you need is a receipt from an irragation company for system service or repair. Repairman has to run system to find problems and verify repairs do the job. Or does the city think that you can only work on a system between the hours of 6:00 PM and 10:00 AM? Or you can only repair systems on the south side of the street on even days and the north side of the street on odd days?

[DTro]

Funny you should ask that, because I brought that up to him as well, and he told me that service needs to be scheduled per the restrictions as well

[HaywardBound]

Darren, I think I know why the Chief wanted you checked out...Suspicious activity!

You come home in the wee hours of the morning with slime on your sweatshirt, smelling like fish. You spend a lot of time caring for your bull-heads like they are pets.

Man...some people just don't understand. You should take your neighbor fishing to show him the really important things in life.

[Shack]

Fortunately, I am not under any water restrictions and never have been. Does it just pertain to automated yard sprinkler systems or does it pertain to hose end sprinklers as well.

My question is could you hose your yard down with a hose, before you spread your fertilizer?

Not to keep this subject going, just a question?

[Powerstroke]

In any case, hose sprinklers or any sprinkling device meant for watering the lawn, landscape or trees will be considered watering. If you decided to just "wet down the lawn" it is the same as happened to Dtro.

[toonfish]

I have an interesting twist to this story. When I moved to the house I am in now, I was unaware of the watering restrictions. The water company made a visit to my house after they had noticed continuous high use levels. When they showed up I was watering my lawn on an "off" day and the guy walked up to my house while I was standing in the driveway, turned my hose off and told me it was my first and only warning!.....But, then in the winter my water softener went bad without me noticing it, and would run continuously for days on end. Well I was never contacted by the city about the issue and for 2 months my water bill was over 650.00 per month. Seems they could have contacted me and let me know, before I had to pay over 1,200.00 for water not used for anything other than filtering through a water softener. Thanks for the heads up