October 3,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Water Reminder: Two-day per week irrigation is permanent year round. Stage II restrictions (2 days per week irrigation) were imposed in June 2016 and are still in effect in Glen Rock, Midland Park, Ridgewood and Wyckoff. Without these restrictions, the use of drinking water for irrigation will continue increasing toward levels that are unsustainable regardless of drought conditions. To reverse this trend, an ordinance was approved by the Village Council on April 12, 2017 to amend the provisions governing Watering and Water Emergencies in the Village of Ridgewood Code. Changes include:
Making 2 days per week irrigation permanent year round,
Restricting irrigation hours to limit losses to evaporation,
Restricting irrigation using private wells to 2 days a week,
Adding new exemptions, including drip irrigation and smart controllers.
No-one seems to want to answer the questions put forth in many prior blogs.
1. Where is the water going to come from to supply the needs of all these new residences? I realize they don’t water but hundreds of new families’ personal uses would probably end up to close to the amount of water the lawns consume. They will also have to have some beautification of lawns and trees which will also require watering.
2. Will residents of other areas using Ridgewood Water also be required to limit outdoor water usage as we do? There has been no such agreement in place up to now. Will we be able to hire summer employees (the old crossing guards?) to drive around Ridgewood in the dawn hours and write down all addresses of lawns being sprinkled in violation of the rules? We all know this goes on!
If they are going to buy the water from neighboring towns
We need to really push on this. There is no drought, hasn’t been in years. Why do we just accept that this is the future. And what do we do when demand increases with new housing etc.
Can someone explain why RW water would spend money on office buildings before working to increase water storage facilities and system capacity?
What is being done to address the issue. Is there a plan or do we just keep restricting
Where is the leadership?
8:14 I’m beginning to think that maybe the water company is no longer interested in being a non-profit service entity. Instead they want a glossy building with the appropriate lavish desks and higher salaries. Now that they have been spun off from the village government into a free standing operation, they want to spend money they don’t have and to charge higher prices because the water usage has been reduced. Obviously, they have made no concrete plans to pay back to the other towns what the court has granted. They must be planning to fight the judge’s decision (spending more money) so they can spend even more money on office luxuries .
8:14. We just accept this is the future because it is trendy. It is just like “global warming” or gas emissions that are “destroying” the ozone layer. It is just like that rainbow flag that sooner or later will be flown 365 days/yr in the middle of the village or that Black Lives Matter that already flies 365 days/yr next to the church. The water issue is even better because it makes us (read Ridgewood population) unique. By accepting whatever Rdg Water throws at us we are looking far into the future. We do not care that rain keeps falling, that there is no drought etc. but we look into hundreds years into the future where we know for sure that we there will be a major drought. This is the cool way of thinking, the liberal way of thinking. And our VC seems to be fully comfortable with this. As they say we are leading by example. Don’t try to fight it, you’re living the golden years in Ridgewood but you just don’t understand it. In time you will realize how lucky you have been.