Dear nattering nabobs of negativism,
This is a busy time of year as we are all getting ready for the summer – making plans for family activities and to enjoy the outdoors! In fact, you are hearing from the Acting Village Manager as Roberta is enjoying a well-deserved vacation.
The Ridgewood Water Department is making summer plans for water distribution during this season of high demand and wants to remind all customers of the rules so they can comply. We have learned from past experience that mandatory restrictions actually benefit everyone so we can provide enough water to meet the residential demand as well as needed reserves and water pressure for public safety.
Please review the annual plan below that will go into effect Wednesday, June 1st. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of following the rules at each stage so we can use our water resources to everyone’s best advantage.
Summer Water Restrictions Village Code Chapter 269, Article IV
Stage I will be in effect each year starting on June 1st and will continue through August 31st. If conditions warrant, irrigation will be prohibited on additional days of the week up to and including a total ban on irrigation.
Compliance with the initial restrictions will reduce the likelihood that more severe controls will be needed. Your cooperation is appreciated.
Stage I (Moderate) – Mandatory restriction of irrigation to Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays for properties with odd-numbered addresses and Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays for properties with even-numbered addresses. Irrigation using a hand-held hose shall be allowed at any time. No irrigation shall be allowed on Mondays except for the use of a hand-held hose.
Stage II (Severe) – Mandatory restriction of irrigation to Tuesdays and Saturdays for properties with odd-numbered addresses and Wednesdays and Sundays for properties with even-numbered addresses. No irrigation shall be allowed on Mondays, Thursdays, or Fridays except for the use of a hand-held hose. Irrigation using a hand-held hose shall be allowed at any time.
Stage III (Pending/Critical) – Mandatory restriction of irrigation to the use of a hand-held hose on Tuesdays and Saturdays for properties with odd-numbered addresses and Wednesdays and Sundays for properties with even-numbered addresses. No irrigation of any kind shall be allowed on Mondays, Thursdays, or Fridays.
Stage IV (Critical) – Irrigation is prohibited at any time. Exceptions for irrigation using a hand-held hose may be allowed under conditions prescribed by the Village Manager of the Village of Ridgewood.
With everyone following the water restrictions from the beginning of the season, hopefully we will all benefit with less severe restrictions during the later months of summer. As in the past, there will be Village staff supporting our compliance efforts.
If you have any questions about the water restriction plans, please feel free to contact me at rcalbi@ridgewoodnj.net.
We appreciate your support.
Thank you.
Richard Calbi, Jr.
Director of Operations
For Roberta Sonenfeld, Village Manager
I’d like to see enforcement begin so the inconsiderate residents who ignore the rules don’t deplete the systems for the rest of us who comply.
Imagine any other company would look towards capacity expansion
Drain the Graydon SWOMP and put in an outdoor Olympic regulation pool.Do it for the Kids…we can use the Garage money,
This water department is so incompetent. It has rained every weekend for the past month with rain off and on during the week and they are already putting out restrictions. Does the water department not know how to capture rain water?
Ridgewood has wells not reservoirs. Groundwater does not recharge quickly from rains. That is the issue.
So many people have automatic sprinklers now that didn’t in the past (and are used without thinking even when not necessary) that we threaten the ground water levels
Thed – your are wrong. There’s plenty of water in our aquifer. The issues if that Ridgewoods infrastructure cannot pump it, nor can we store it, in large enough quantiites to guarantee adequate flow in case of an emergency during peak hours. Upgrades to the system (such as addtional or larger) storage tanks would solve our problem. It’s pretty simple.
And automatic sprinklers actually REDUCE the amount of water being used. They don’t overlap areas and limit the amount of time an area is watered. Most have rain sensors that don’t turn on the system whan it’s not necessary. And alot of people don’t have them turned on all of the time; my system is shut OFF most of the time.
With that said, everyone should consider watering less. Water is not a resource without limits.
A reminder that Valley’s last expansion plan (that was unanimously rejected by the Village Council in 2011) called for the “dewatering” of 500,000 gallons of groundwater per day due to how deep they needed to dig. Think we have water problems now?
This obviously is a distribution issue and not lack of water. Ridgewood water has no capacity of supplying all the water that residents need. Why isn’t the garage money spent on improving this antiquated water system and improve everyone’s life? I guess there is no money to be made there.
Graydon must be using a good chunk of water resources in the summer. I’d rather have enough water at home than have Graydon.
Sell it!
The problem isn’t the wells it’s the capacity to store the water in the tanks. During peak months they can’t pump enough into the existing storage tanks. the simple answer is that we need more or bigger storage tanks.
8:51. That’s not the reason. There is plenty of ground water. The same pumping system is in place as it was fifty years ago. There never seems to be enough money or ability to overcome NIMBYs to upgrade it.
@7:46am: If you have inconsiderate neighbors illegally running sprinklers, then whining about it here will not accomplish anything. Call the Water Dept. and tell them the address(es) where it is going on.
Water restrictions are something that were brought in very occasionally when I moved here 20 years ago. We now get them every single year, starting around now and ending in the Fall. We clearly have a capacity issue. For those that don’t quite know what this means, our storage tanks aren’t big enough to provide the supply pressure needed to meet everyone’s needs while at the same time, being able to give the FD enough pressure at the hydrants. Yes, we do get actual water shortages, but the vast majority of the time, these restrictions are all down to inadequate supply pressure when so many people are sprinkling, filling pools, and all those other summer activities that use water.
@1:07 you consider it whining when someone expects compliance?
I propose every underground sprinkler owner get $1000 per year surcharge. System worked fine with same number of houses until newbies moved here and installed sprinkler systems thus straining the facilities.
7:06 – why would you surcharge underground spinkler owners? The issue is not consumption, it’s delivery. Most (and I do mean most) underground systems water in OFF PEAK hours and therefore, do not impact the delivery during peak hours. But just in case you wanted to argue about consumption, homes with underground systems generally use LESS water than other homes which water on a regular basis. I’ve been here 25 years and my water consumption went down when I installed my underground system a few years ago. You see, my sprinklers don’t come on if it has rained, they don’t overlap areas nor do they water they driveway, and I don’t water the same area for an hour because I forgot to move the sprinklers. My zones water for 10 minutes/2x/week except for my vegetable garden which is 3x/week. I I think you need to do a little thinking and research before you spout off (pun intended).
how about making it a parking lot,
hey what append to frank moritz,
925: I see sprinkle systems on during the rain. They don’t all have rain sensors. And if they are all on at the same time it becomes the “new peak ” time, and the “delivery system ” not handle it. I moved here 47 years ago and the town was basically built out then. The only difference is the increased demand from the users of automatic sprinkler systems. Good for you that your consumption decreases since you forgot to turn off your old sprinklers. But a big surcharge is in order for those users that require the infrastructure to support the sprinkler systems.
NIMBYs have buried Ridgewood with a mountain of problems like this – you need top renew and upgrade your infrastructure or you are in decline. Been that way for years now.