TAFT, CA - Residents in western Kern County now have restrictions on when they can water their lawns. The Taft area water district approved rules last week, making it the first city in Kern County to limit irrigation since it was mandated by the state in July.
Residents are now only allowed to water their lawns at night to prevent evaporation. So far, the West Kern Water District says no one is complaining.
"As a retailer we were required to move to this level," said Harry Starkey, general manager for the West Kern Water District.
It was required because of emergency drought regulations passed by the State Water Resources Control Board last month. The new rules require local water districts to limit outdoor water use.
The West Kern Water District is the first to implement the mandatory irrigation restriction rule since July. In comparison, the City of Bakersfield closed all spray parks last week.
The West Kern Water District rules include three things.
"It's nights, nozzles, and brooms," said Starkey.
Nights means you cannot water your lawn during the day between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Nozzles means you must use a hose with a nozzle. Brooms means sweep your sidewalk, don't spray. According to the state mandate, the rules will be in place for at least the next nine months.
Taft resident William Parsons says the rule is a 'no brainer.'
"I think it's a good idea," said William Parsons, a Taft resident.
The City of Bakersfield talked about restricting irrigation to the evening, but there was concern it would overload the system's pressure too quickly and break water mains. But West Kern said for them, that's not an issue.
"Our system is so spread out over 300 square miles the prospect of that for us is very remote," said Starkey.
As far as enforcement, West Kern said they don't anticipate there will be fines or water police because they believe they can hit their 15 percent reduction goal without it.
"If I know the will of westside people. We'll achieve it," said Starkey.
West Kern Water District said it would not have implemented mandatory restrictions if it hadn't been mandated by the state.