San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Passes New Regulations For Outdoor Urban Water Use
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission has voted to penalize customers with water landscaping accounts who don't cut back water usage by 10 percent, as the city continues to deal with drought-like conditions.
The regulations call for water customers that have metered irrigation accounts to reduce potable water use by 10 percent for outdoor irrigation of ornamental landscape and turf. Customers will pay a 100 percent surcharge for water use over 90 percent of last year's usage.
"Half of them are municipal accounts, largely the Recreation and Parks Department and DPW," said Steven Ritchie with the San Francisco Water Department. "The remainder are largely homeowner associations and apartments, Park Merced, Caltrans, BART, Mission Bay, USF, San Francisco State."
The new regulations go into effect October 1 for the 1,600 customers. The SFPUC said many are already ahead of the game in terms of conservation. For those concerned about a possible penalty, they will be able to track how they are doing on each bill.