Santa Clara Valley Water enacts ban on outdoor lawn watering for businesses, institutions
Santa Clara County water officials are imposing some strict new watering rules.
The Valley Water Board of Directors on Tuesday approved a complete ban on watering all non-functional turf for businesses and institutions, including homeowners' associations.
The board voted to amend the existing outdoor watering ordinance to allow Valley Water to enforce the State of California's ban against watering decorative lawns on commercial, industrial and institutional properties.
The ordinance applies to any grass or landscaping that's purely decorative. Current limits on residential watering will stay in effect.
"We don't know when this drought is going to end. We don't know, you know, how long we're going to have to continue. And although we met the goal for the first time again in 2022, the cumulative numbers, you know, still have some ways to go."
Valley Water also announced Tuesday its customers reduced water usage by 16% in July compared to 2019 level and by 19% compared to 2020, numbers that exceed statewide goals.