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10/11/2016 - Mayor issues drought warning; mandatory water use restrictions to be enforced

The Mayor's Office and the Waterbury Bureau of Water announced Tuesday Oct. 11 that the water level in the City's reservoirs have fallen below 50 percent capacity due to the continued dry weather conditions. As a result, we are implementing the Drought Warning stage of our Emergency Contingency Plan. Under this stage, a number of steps will be implemented to respond to the drought including Mandatory Water Use Restrictions that become effective immediately.

The Mandatory Restrictions include a ban on all non-essential outdoor water usage such as lawn and garden watering; watering of golf course fairways; non-commercial washing of motor vehicles; hose washing of streets, driveways and sidewalks; ornamental water use such as fountains and waterfalls; the use of hydrants for any purpose other that fire-fighting or as approved by municipal health officials for public health or safety needs; and the serving of water in restaurants or clubs unless specifically requested by a patron.

Under these steps we are asking all customers to reduce their usage by 20%.  We are doing this to help reserves an adequate water supply for everyday use and fire protection.

These water use bans are enforceable under section 52.01 (B) of the City of Waterbury Code of Ordinances, which prohibits outdoor watering during periods of drought, and by the Waterbury Bureau of Water Rules and Regulations, which allows the Bureau to discontinue service if water use restrictions are not complied with.

You can find a complete list of the Drought Warning action steps and water use prohibitions along with more information on the water conservation and updates on the reservoir capacity on the City of Waterbury website at www.waterburyct.org and follow the links to the Water Department.