The purpose of the Drought Demand Reduction Plan is to reduce water use during a drought consistent with the goals and objectives of the WATER 2120.

The water savings that are targeted during declaration of various stages of drought are intended to be short-term measures capable of producing water savings over time periods ranging from one month to one year, but no longer. Implementation of the Strategy should be considered separately from the Water Authority’s conservation program. The water conservation program is intended to provide for long-term water savings as opposed to a single year or irrigation season.

When drought conditions exist or are anticipated to develop in our region, the Water Authority Board will be briefed on water usage and predicted drought conditions and will utilize this information to decide when to declare the drought stages. The approval of a drought stage by the Water Authority Board will authorize the Water Authority’s Executive Director to initiate all the measures associated with that drought stage.

There are four levels of drought that can be declared and all but the Drought Advisory (a first stage early warning system that calls for increased education on drought and voluntary conservation) must be approved by the Water Authority Board. The four drought stages include:

• Drought Advisory
• Drought Watch (Stage 1)
• Drought Warning (Stage 2)
• Drought Emergency (Stage 3)

For further details, including the mitigation measures authorized in each drought stage, please refer to the Drought Demand Reduction Plan document.