Mandatory water cutbacks ordered in Livermore

LIVERMORE, Calif.

"If you took away my yard, I'd probably wither away like plants without water," resident Jim Adams said.

For Adams, that won't be happening anytime soon. Some time ago, he replaced his water-thirsty lawn with an ecofriendly, drought-tolerant landscape. It's a move that he says makes total sense.

"The possibility of a drought and the wisdom of planting more drought-tolerant plants is quite obvious," he said.

Drought conditions across Livermore have forced the city to mandate water conservation measures.

"This is the first time ever where the State Department of Water Resources has said, they're going to cut off the water supply to the Tri-Valley completely," said Livermore Public Works Director Daniel McIntyre.

Rain totals in March did not improve the water supply, so change was necessary.

Previous calls for a voluntary 20 percent cutback only resulted in a savings of 4 percent, so the city asking that residents reduce indoor use by 5 percent and they're imposing a 50 percent mandatory cutback for outdoor water use.

"If we do that, we'll get through the summer with all of our landscaping alive,"

For a complete list of the mandatory conservation measures, click here.

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