As the drought continues to affect the state of California, new water conservation rules are coming soon to the city of San Luis Obispo.
“Because of the community’s effort to conserve water in the past, we aren’t in a local water shortage emergency; however, this is statewide drought," said SLO Water Resources Program Manager Nick Teague.
The severe drought is requiring local water agencies to implement these water conservation regulations and that applies to residents in the city of San Luis Obispo.
A new regulation coming into effect as soon as June 10 will allow SLO residents to only water their lawn between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. and irrigation of non-functional turf will be prohibited.
Older regulations include eliminating water waste, including excessive irrigation, fixing any leaks, and not washing sidewalks with water. They also ask restaurants to only serve water when customers ask for it.
Residents around San Luis Obispo are making the switch from natural grass to more drought-tolerant choices including rocks and wood chips.
“We are in drought for the past few years, so I decided to make an effort on my end to conserve water," said SLO resident Ricardo Cardenas.
Cardenas says he switched over to synthetic grass just three months ago and is already seeing big changes in his water bill.
“I would say we are saving probably about 25-20 percent on the water bill every month so that’s a good saving," said Cardenas.
Other residents are also joining the water conservation efforts in their yards.
“The plants we have right now are more of desert plants and it allows us to save more water and it’s much better," said SLO resident Jesus Hernandez.
As of now, local officials say the drought is guiding these regulations and there is no set date when they will end.
More information on how the city of San Luis Obispo is responding to the drought can be found on the city’s website.
