The change is not due to a newly found oasis of water for northern Nevada’s arid climate. Rather, the Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA) has found that those on the metered system use significantly less water than those on a flat rate system.
The change will get its first reading at a TMWA board meeting today at 10 a.m. in the Sparks City Council Chambers at City Hall. After that reading, it will need a final adoption by the board and then a final adoption by Reno, Sparks and Washoe County.
Under the new plan, those with even addresses would be allowed to water on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Those residents with odd addresses would be able to water on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Monday would remain a day when watering is prohibited. The change, which would be good through 2030, also changes the hours of day that residents can water. Locals are normally prohibited from watering during the hottest hours of the day.
Previous to the change, these hours were 1 to 5 p.m. Now, locals will need to shut off their watering systems between 12 noon to 6 p.m.
According to a TMWA water use study released Aug. 25, 2009, more than half of all services are watering more than two times a week anyway. However, the average daily water use numbers showed that those who watered three or four times each week actually used less water per day than those watering twice a week.
The study also showed that average water use per day on peak days averaged 2,579 gallons for flat-rate users and 962 for metered users. The study was done during the summer of 2008. Daily meter reads were collected for eight weeks at 12,404 residences between June 23 and Aug. 17 between the hours of 9 p.m. and 2 a.m., resulting in water use measured from roughly midnight to midnight.
The item’s second reading and possible adoption is scheduled for the Feb. 17 TMWA board meeting.
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