Solvang rescinds Stage 2 drought restrictions.
Solvang residents can water their landscapes on any day they choose and can wash their own vehicles at home after the City Council rescinded the Stage 2 drought water restrictions Monday night.
Council members voted 4-1, with Neill Zimmerman dissenting, to rescind the mandatory Stage 2 restrictions but keep the Stage 1 restrictions after modifying one of them to make it align with the new state regulations.
His executive order rescinded most of the statewide water use restrictions, including the mandatory conservation targets he previously set, although restrictions on certain wasteful practices remain, City Engineer and Public Works Director Matt van der Linden said in a report to the council.
In his report, van der Linden noted the state water allocation for 2017 is 85 percent, Cachuma Lake is more than 50 percent full, the city’s new HCA South Well is in service and the water supply seems to be stable, at least for the near term.
The city’s Stage 1 restrictions prohibited people from washing their cars at their homes and required them to take them to a commercial car wash.
Van der Linden told council members they could modify the Stage 1 restrictions to allow car washing with automatic shut-off nozzles to make them consistent with the state’s restrictions.
Councilman Hans Duus echoed Jamieson’s concerns about residents starting to waste water once the restrictions were lifted.
“We live in Southern California,” Duus said.
If that means making Stage 1 restrictions a way of life with Solvang, so be it.” Van der Linden told the council he will also prepare a trifold brochure explaining the city’s Stage 1 restrictions that will be mailed to residents in their water bills.