Santa Cruz city leaders approve mandatory water restrictions

The Santa Cruz City Council has decided to bring back mandatory water restrictions. On Tuesday, the water department brought the idea to council stating that even though reservoir levels are up from where they were last year, the city has to plan for long term drought.

A stage three water emergency is something residents are familiar with. Last year the city initiated the same restrictions with a 25 percent reduction goal.

“I think people will feel fairly familiar with this, since we were in rationing pretty much all last summer. It’s not a new system and the allotments are the same as they were last year,” Toby Goddard said, administrative services manager with the Santa Cruz Water Department.

The water department issues monthly allotments for each resident that will show up on your water bill. For those who don’t comply, fines could be hundreds of dollars. If you don’t want to pay that, there will be water school offered like it was last year. The stage 3 water restrictions will go into effect on May 1.