With no end in sight to California’s record drought, Mayor Kevin Faulconer said San Diego will step up enforcement of water rules and stop watering landscaped medians.
San Diego is already undermandatory water restrictions, and may face more after Gov. Jerry Brown last week ordered a 25 percent decrease in statewide water use.
Faulconer said new reduction targets are expected in four weeks and predicted they “will require San Diegans to come together and cut water use like never before.”
In the interim, Faulconer said, the city would take four immediate steps to save more water:
- Strengthen enforcement of water rules
- Allow turf landscaped medians to go brown
- Review options to cut the city’s own water use, including at parks and golf courses. He said small parks could be allowed to go brown.
- Restart a turf-replacement rebate program
“We will continue to do our part, just as we have in every drought that the state has faced,” Faulconer said.
Halla Razak, the city’s public utilities director, said the city will begin issuing formal warnings and fines. She said over 990 complaints have been received since August, but no fines have been issued yet.
Faulconer and Council President Sherri Lightner said San Diego is already taking proactive measures to secure a long-term water supply, including a major water recycling program and support for desalination projects.
“More desalination plants are going to be needed,” Lightner said.
