Simi Council OKs Mandatory Water-Saving Plan : Drought: The ordinance takes effect in April. Restaurant and landscaping uses are covered. More stringent measures may be adopted later.

Saying the city may be faced with tougher restrictions in the near future, the Simi Valley City Council voted Monday to impose a mandatory water conservation ordinance that affects both residences and businesses.

The council, which has already adjusted the city’s water rates to penalize excessive users, voted 4 to 1 to approve a conservation ordinance that includes restrictions on everything from serving water in restaurants to watering lawns. Councilwoman Sandi Webb was the dissenting vote.

“It’s time everybody stood up and admitted to themselves that this is a crisis situation,” Councilwoman Judy Mikels said before the council voted. “We need to do something.”

“We shouldn’t have to have mandatory conservation laws, but a lot of people aren’t going to do it any other way,” said Councilman Glen McAdoo.

Mayor Greg Stratton warned that if the drought worsens, the city may impose more stringent measures, which could include restrictions or added fees for new hookups, modifying the city’s landscape ordinance and working more closely with park and school districts to reduce water consumption.

“This quite frankly is only going to be the first step,” Stratton said of the ordinance approved Monday.

Despite the urgency expressed by her colleagues, Webb said she did not believe that the ordinance was enforceable. She said the law would simply create tension among residents by encouraging neighbors to report each other to the city for wasting water. “I will not vote for a mandatory measure until I’m convinced we’ve tried everything else,” she said.

The new ordinance prohibits hosing down sidewalks and other paved surfaces; filling decorative fountains, ponds and lakes, except with recycled water; serving water at restaurants unless requested and watering lawns between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. unless using a hand-held hose or a slow-drip irrigation system.

The ordinance does not apply to commercial nurseries, parks, golf courses and other water-dependent industries. Those businesses, however, will be required to use hand-held hoses or slow-drip irrigation systems.

Residents will only be allowed to wash their motor vehicles by bucket or with a hose equipped with a shut-off nozzle, and all users would be required to report any leaks in their plumbing system within 48 hours of discovery.

Penalties include a written warning for the first violation and a $100 fine for the second, Public Works Director Ronald Coons said. A third offense will draw a $200 fine and a fourth or subsequent violation a $500 fine, Coons said.

The new ordinance goes into effect April 17.

Residents and business operators can apply for exemptions to the ordinance with the city’s Utility Billing Adjustment Committee, composed of two department heads and a representative of the city manager’s office, city officials said.

Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks receive all their water through agencies supplied by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which beginning Friday will impose 20% cutbacks on cities and 50% on agricultural users. The district also supplies water to Camarillo, Moorpark and Oxnard, all of which have some type of voluntary or mandatory rationing measures in place.

The Simi Valley council adjusted its water rates last month in response to the MWD’s 10% cutbacks to cities that began Feb. 1. But Simi Valley’s household quota of 624 gallons a day is still far higher than the quotas in other Ventura County cities.

The Thousand Oaks City Council, which recently approved water restrictions and fines similar to those passed by the Simi Valley City Council, will consider a plan today that would further penalize residents and businesses that fail to cut consumption.