The city of Santa Clara will join a long list of California cities and counties in declaring a local emergency for extreme drought conditions.
The City Council plans to ratify the emergency proclamation asking residents to conserve water on Tuesday.
The emergency proclamation also requires the city to move into Stage 2 of its water shortage contingency plan. This includes watering use restrictions such as limiting outdoor watering to a maximum of three days a week.
Odd-numbered addresses and sites with no addresses can water Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays and even-numbered addresses can water on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Irrigation would also not be allowed between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. or 48 hours after measurable precipitation.
Once the City Council ratifies the emergency proclamation, the city will focus on disseminating public information before enforcing fines for residents.
"We're really trying to educate the residents rather than fine anybody at this time," city spokesperson Maria Le said.
The city will also be reducing hydrant/line flushing, as well as water use for construction and will restrict irrigation on golf courses unless recycled water is available.
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