Myoma Dunes Mutual Water Company sets drought restrictions

Coachella Valley residents will face limitations to lawn watering after restrictions were set Friday by the Myoma Dunes Mutual Water Company.

The Myoma Dunes’ board of directors voted unanimously to limit watering lawns to three days a week. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Myoma Dunes customers may water their lawns before 7 a.m. and after 8 p.m.

Customers who do not comply may face fines as high as $500. How the restrictions will be enforced is uncertain. According to the Desert Sun, Myoma Dunes General Manager Mark Meeler said that the agency does not have enforcement staff, but could look to personalized water budgets for charging excessive water users.

The restrictions were in response to Gov. Jerry Brown’s mandatory drought cutbacks, which state that California water use must be cut by 25 percent by early 2016.

Myoma Dunes customers rate as the state’s highest per capita water consumer in recent months and consume far more than other Coachella Valley water districts. The agency must cut consumption among its customers by 36 percent, starting in June.