Riverside Highland Water Company to Continue State Imposed Water Restrictions

For the second time in the last four weeks, Governor Jerry Brown and the California Department of Water Resources have ordered the extension and expansion of the water restrictions that were implemented in August of last year. These restrictions are the result of California now entering the fourth consecutive year of below-normal rainfall and the failure to reduce water use by 20 percent throughout the State. The existing restrictions include: washing down driveways and sidewalks; watering of outdoor landscapes that cause excess runoff; using a hose to wash a motor vehicle (unless the hose is fitted with a shut-off nozzle); and using potable water in a fountain or decorative water feature, unless the water is recirculated. The State has also added the requirement that all Californians turn off their sprinklers during measurable rainfall, and keep them off for at least 48 hours after the rain event and ban all restaurants, bars and hotels from serving water unless customers ask for it. The State of California has also required all water agencies to limit lawn watering to two days per week if they aren’t already restricting watering days. Previously, Riverside Highland Water Company requested voluntary water conservation to no more than four days per week. We are now forced by the State to require the four-day-per-week watering schedule. We are also requesting that residents only water between the hours of 6 p.m. to 8 a.m. While other water agencies are looking at issuing fines, Riverside Highland Water Company will work with our customers through verbal communication as well as hang tags when we observe noncompliance. However, if the community does not respond to conservation or if the State requires additional cutbacks, fines may be required in the future. We will continue to work with the State of California and other local agencies to conserve water and will keep you, our shareholders and customers, informed of any additional information. Our goal is to pull together as a community to conserve water. We at Riverside Highland Water Company believe that through education and communication, our customers will understand the seriousness of the situation and come together to save water for the benefit of our community’s future.