June 4,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Summer Water Restriction season once again and the Ridgewood blog just has to ask ; are we the only one who wonders what it is going to take to fix this thing and get the Ridgewood water system up to speed. Sorry folks but summer water restrictions every single summer is too much 3rd world for the kind of taxes Ridgewood taxpayers are paying .
This not a critique of Ridgewood water but an attempt to get the ball rolling on a discussion which has for too long been swept under the rug . Do residents really want to live with perpetual water restrictions, law suits and assorted water quality issues.
-For information on the Ground Water Under Direct Influence of Surface Water (GWUDI) monitoring program click HERE.
-For information on PFOA and PFOS click HERE.
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.
Ridgewood water is not funded by taxes, it’s funded entirely by ratepayers (the water bill). It’s unfortunate but water is getting more expensive — more stringent water quality standards mean more treatment, which drives rates up. Also, in general, east coast water utilities are having to replace a lot of aging infrastructure which is nearing the end of its lifespan.
Ridgewood’s problem is that there is not enough storage for the comparatively high demands of summertime, when lots of people use automatic sprinklers to water their lawns every night. It’s a somewhat wasteful use of water, especially in the face of the droughts we tend to have in North Jersey, and I don’t mind dealing with some water restrictions to rein that in.
I remember that some years ago, Ridgewood did try to increase the capacity of one of its tanks ever so slightly (up on Valley View near Crest Rd) but the neighbors would have none of it.
United Water has had these same demand issues in places like Franklin Lakes where the water use has been a lot higher in the summer than in the winter because of lawn watering, pools, etc. They did take action and construct a large new storage tank on Shadow Ridge Rd, but they will turn around and use this large expense as a justification to raise water rates (Utilities both public and private are bound to justify their water rates). So not only will Franklin Lakes be consuming more water, they will pay more per gallon ($$$).
I agree that Ridgewood Water may not be as professional or “on top of things” as a larger organization. However, I wouldn’t like to see Ridgewood Water absorbed into a large, private water company. We would lose our nice-tasting well water (my opinion), control over our water rates, and the other benefits of having a small, local, public water utility.