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Arroyo Grande imposes new water use restrictions

November 4, 2021

Lopez lake at normal levels

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

With Lopez Lake at about 30 percent capacity, the city of Arroyo Grande has declared a water shortage emergency and has imposed restrictions on various types of water use.

Under the new rules, residents may not use water to clean driveways, patios, parking lots, sidewalks or streets, unless doing so is deemed necessary to protect public health and safety. Use of water that results in excessive gutter runoff is also prohibited.

Residents who live at even-numbered addresses may only irrigate private and public landscaping, turf areas and gardens on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Those who live at odd-numbered addresses may only use water for such irrigation on Tuesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Additionally, outdoor irrigation is prohibited between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Likewise, residents may not use more water than deemed necessary by the city in order to maintain landscaping.

The city has also imposed a ban on emptying and refilling swimming pools and commercial spas, except when doing so would prevent structural damage or protect public health and safety. Builders are also prohibited from using potable water for soil compaction or dust control purposes as part of construction.

In addition to the restrictions, Arroyo Grande is incentivizing residents to reduce water usage through a cash for grass program. The city is offering residents $1 per square foot of grass removed with a minimal removal amount of 500 square feet and a maximum of 5,000 square feet. Residents participating in the program must replace their grass with drought-tolerant plants, permeable mulch or artificial turf.


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We cant let Jimmy Paulding and his failures on the city council become more failures as a supervisor.


3

ooooh, but big oil can drill new Wells using mass amounts of water and bigots cheer in happiness while the regular tax payers are screwed. Funny. Thank your BOS POS’s


-2

The city “leaders” of bankrupt AG continue to penalize small business and local residents while catering to large out of area corporations and developers. How much water do you think two 60,000 sq ft senior citizen residences will use? Both developments are in the works with out of town developers and building firms getting lucrative city contracts and easy peasy approvals ( most of which are held behind closed doors).

The “leaders” are much more worried about social media likes than using critical thinking and sound judgement to sensibly mold the city with water usage in mind.

Instead they Limit water usage and Penalize the small guy but lay out the red carpet for the “Big Boys” and green light developments that will use TONS of water without much consequential thought for future drought conditions … Good Lord help us locals.


44

Be specific, you mean oil Wells and Exxon mobile, the terrorist org?


-15

And yet the city continues to approve more building which taxes even more a low water situation, but heck city officials go ahead and punish current residents for you failed leadership


46

Hey hey all that new property tax is to fund pensions that are bankrupting the city…off limits (sarcasm). It baffles me that cities are having to impose restrictions for the state’s horrible planning in regards to essentially not doing anything to address the water problem. But somehow we have funding for a pointless bullet train boondoggle that will serve no one.


31

Which is it? Local government control or state/federal? The inmates are running the asylum locally, left to their own device. What have the people getting rich off of new development in SLO county done for it’s citizens lately??


0

But yet SB 9 and state ADU laws allow 4 residences where there is now one. How’s that gonna work?


52

Right!?!


1