As expected, the City of Alcoa passed a water restriction ordinance at a special meeting this morning.

The ordinance gives the city the tools to enforce mandatory restrictions on non-essential water use if there is a declared emergency. (At the present time, the city has not declared an emergency.)

Here are the pertinent details on the new ordinance as passed on second reading:

SECTION 1, That when the flow downstream at City of Alcoa withdrawal operations in Little River at Mile 9.7 is 30 cubic feet per second (CFS) or less, appeal to the water customers of the system will be made through the news media for voluntary water conservation.

SECTION 2, When the flow downstream of said withdrawal operations is 25 CFS or less, water supplied to customers of the system shall not be used for non-essential purposes. For this purpose "non-essential purposes'; shall include but not necessarily be limited to filling swimming pools, car washing, car washing facilities, recreational facilities and watering of trees, lawns, gardens and other vegetation.

SECTION 3. When the flow downstream of the withdrawal operations is 23 CFS or less the amount of water consumed by large industrial customers and large non-residential / non-health care commercial customers should be reduced by approximately Five Percent (5%) of their average daily consumption until notice is given that the restriction is no longer in effect.

The ordinance allows for fines from $25 to $50 for each violation, and each day that a violation occurs counts as a separate offense.

The full text of the ordinance is attached here (PDF format).