HOAs react to new drought restrictions
Water restrictions from the Desert Water Agency target outdoor use from homes, and homeowners associations are dealing with these new rules.
More than 70 percent of the urban water use in the Coachella Valley is for landscaping.
“The main reason that we are not focusing on peoples shower times and how often they run their dish washer, is because the bulk of the water use is outdoor, so we want to focus our resources where we have the most room to save,” said Katie Ruark, public information officer with the Desert Water agency.
The new rules from the DWA state outdoor residential irrigation is to be restricted to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, after 7:00 p.m. and before 7:00 a.m.
Historic drought requires water agencies to adopt additional water restrictions
“All residential water users are going to be impacted by that Monday, Wednesday, Friday rule, so whether you are a homeowner or have a condo in an HOA, you are now being subject to that rule,” said Ruark.
For some homeowners associations in the Coachella Valley, the monthly dues include water use so these communities want to find ways to cut back.
“We have 299 units, and the water level has gone up a little bit inside some of the units, so we have to address that,” said Hal Castle, board member for the Canyon Sands HOA in Palm Springs.
The Canyon Springs community has already pulled out grass is some spots and replaced it with desert landscape.
“This year we are about 37 percent better than last year so that’s good,” said Castle.
KESQ asked one HOA member if it would be better to meter everyone’s inside water use separately.
“It would cost more to do that, then more or less we would have to be a water company, where we would be reading the meters and homeowners would be paying us for the water usage. So it’s really not beneficial for us,” said Jim Grontkowski, Maintenance director for Ramona Villas HOA.
Grontkowski says his HOA has already taken steps to save outdoor water.
“We’ve installed five smart controllers from the DWA, it measures the moisture in the air, and if we need water it controls the irrigation system,” said Grontkowski.
