§ 41-14.1. Water management regulations.

(a)

Lawn and landscape irrigation restrictions.

(1)

A person commits an offense if the person knowingly or recklessly irrigates, waters or causes or permits the irrigation or watering of a lawn or landscape located on premises owned, leased, or managed by the person in a manner that causes:

a.

A substantial amount of water to fall or pond upon impervious areas instead of a lawn or landscaped area, such that a constant stream of water overflows from the lawn or landscaped area onto a street, driveway, parking area, or other drainage area; or

b.

An irrigation system or other lawn or landscape watering device to operate during any form of precipitation.

(2)

A person commits an offense if, on premises owned, leased or managed by that person, the person operates an irrigation system or other lawn or landscape watering device that:

a.

Has any broken or missing sprinkler head; or

b.

Has not been properly maintained in a manner that prevents the waste of water.

(3)

A person commits an offense if, during the period from April 1 through October 31 of any year and between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. on any day during that period, the person knowingly or recklessly irrigates, waters, or causes or permits the irrigation or watering of any lawn or landscaped area by any means, including use of a hand-held hose or soaker hose, on premises owned, leased, or managed by the person, unless the person is irrigating or watering plants, flowers, grass, or other lawn or landscaping materials at a commercial business which sells those goods to the public.

(4)

Except for watering by use of a hand-held hose, a person commits an offense if the person knowingly or recklessly irrigates, waters, or causes or permits irrigation of any lawn or landscaped area on premises owned, leased, or managed by the person more than twice per week or on a different day than allowed by the following schedule:

a.

For even-numbered addresses (ending in 0, 2, 4, 6 or 8), irrigation and watering of lawn or landscaped areas is permitted only on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

b.

For odd-numbered addresses (ending in 1, 3, 5, 7, or 9), irrigation and watering of lawn or landscaped areas is permitted only on Wednesdays and Sundays.

c.

For a property with multiple addresses, it will follow the schedule determined by using the property's lowest address number.

d.

Lawn and landscape watering is prohibited on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays.

(5)

The provisions of section 41-14.1(a)(4) do not apply if the city is under a more restrictive stage of its water management plan, in which case the applicable drought stage restrictions of the water management plan shall apply.

(b)

Free-flowing, unattended hoses prohibited. A person commits an offense if the person uses a hose that is not equipped with a positive shut-off nozzle for irrigation purposes, vehicle washing, filling pools or any other use without the person being physically present while the hose is in use.

(c)

Water waste prohibited. A person commits an offense if the person knowingly or recklessly permits, allows, or fails to abate the ponding, pooling, leaking, or flowing of water on the person's private property or allows water from the person's private property to enter upon adjacent property owned by another person, public right-of-way, streets, or other public property.

(d)

Water service disconnection. The city shall have the authority to terminate water service to make repairs and/or modifications necessary to protect the integrity of the water system or to abate a condition dangerous to the public health, safety or welfare or to abate a violation of this chapter.

(e)

Affirmative defense. It shall be an affirmative defense to prosecution of an offense under section 41-14.1(a)(4) that the person is irrigating or watering for the purpose of establishing new plantings, trees or grass that has been installed on the property within the past forty-five (45) days.

(f)

Penalty. A person who commits an offense under this section is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not less than one dollar ($1.00) and not more than two thousand dollars ($2,000.00). Each day that one (1) or more of the provisions of this section is violated constitutes a separate offense.

(g)

Civil remedies. Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the city's ability to pursue any other civil remedies to enforce a provision of this section as available under applicable law, including seeking injunctive relief and civil penalties for a violation of this section.

(h)

Exemptions. The provisions of sections 41-14.1(a)—(b) do not apply to water users who derive their water from non-potable sources or sources other than the city's water system.

(Ord. No. 2008-9027, § 6, 12-11-08; Ord. No. 2011-9259, § 2, 6-9-11; Ord. No. 2014-9604 , § 1, 8-7-14)