Council Vote on Township Water Conservation Ordinance
Bloomfield Township Council members will be voting on a Water Conservation Ordinance at tonight’s 7:30 p.m. meeting. With fresh water as a limited resource, the ordinance sets standards of lawn watering no more than two days per week between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. (NOTE: time correction from local news reports), when water is less likely to evaporate, and also sets protocols for water/drought emergencies. Public comment is invited at the meeting.
With the amount of rainfall this regions gets, lawns can thrive with no more than 2 days of watering. Best practices are to water each section of lawn for 30 minutes, allowing water to infiltrate into the soil and encourage deep root growth. Watering for less than that results in short roots that are susceptible not only to drought but also disease. There are exemptions for establishing new lawns and for nurseries. Flowers, shrubs, and vegetable gardens may be watered as often as necessary and cars may be washed, as long as the hoses have automatic shut-off nozzles. The ordinance applies to both residences and businesses, and also urges use water-efficient plumbing fixtures. The water conservation ordinance also earns Bloomfield 10 priority points for Sustainable Jersey certification.
After a warning for a first offense, fines for subsequent offenses range from $25 to $2,000 and/or community service or imprisonment for the most extreme cases.
