SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KCBS) -- Bay Area residents are starting to pay, literally, for that dry winter we had this year.
The Santa Cruz Water Department is calling for mandatory water conservation.
Starting May 1st, residents from Capitola to the North Coast will be prohibited from doing any outside watering between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
"Rainfall in Santa Cruz is only 14-inches and it's been the driest year since the mid-1970s if people remember the drought of 1976-77," said Toby Goddard, a conservation manager with the Santa Cruz Water Department.
"This is a critically dry year under our water classification system. Are we entering a drought? Possibly. It's certainly something we know from experience and operations modeling that when we have two years like this back to back we're in a terrible water shortage."
Violators face a $25 fine. Repeat offenders could have their water turned off.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
KCBS' Mike Colgan reports
DW.pageParams = {
siteId: '255'
};
DW.clear();
DW.trackClicks();
