City Implements Mandatory Water Reduction Plan

The City of Maryville and City of Alcoa announced today that the lower than normal rainfall conditions have persisted and that the water flow measurement of the Little River has decreased to the point where mandatory water reduction measures have been enacted for residential Maryville and Alcoa Water customers. The Little River is the source of water for the Maryville and Alcoa water systems. The mandatory reductions also apply to customers of the Tuckaleechee Utility District and the Stock Creek area of Knox Chapman Utility District; both are supplied water by the City of Alcoa.

Prior to this action, residential customers were asked to voluntarily conserve water by ceasing irrigation of lawns, plants, and trees on their property as well as washing cars.

Maryville City Manager Greg McClain stated, “Our daily monitoring shows that the Little River water level has dropped to 40 cubic feet per second. We are implementing City Ordinance No. 88-27 Section 2 that states ‘when the flow downstream of the withdrawal operations is 40 CFS or less, water supplied to customers of the system shall not be used for non-essential purposes.’” McClain explained that non-essential water uses includes watering trees, lawns, gardens and other vegetation as well as car washing, and filling swimming pools. Homes that have automatic sprinkler systems are encouraged to shut off their timers completely until the mandate is lifted to avoid a violation. McClain added that failure to comply can result in a $50 citation plus court costs of approximately $100 for every occurrence.

Alcoa City Manager Mark Johnson noted that the flow of Little River has dropped below 25 cfs, resulting in Alcoa’s similar call for mandatory water conservation measures by both its residential and commercial customers. Violations of Alcoa’s ordinance may result in fines of up to $50 (plus court costs) per violation; customers may also face termination of water service.

Phase II of the Cities’ plans includes ceasing of irrigation at Maryville and Alcoa public facilities, schools, businesses, and industries. It also calls for voluntary cutbacks of water usage at car wash facilities, nurseries, landscaping businesses, and stores that sell plants, shrubs, and other vegetation.

City of Maryville Ordinance 88-27 was adopted in 1988 in order to regulate the use of water by its water system during periods of shortage of the water supply. Mayor Joe Swann commented, “This ordinance was adopted as part of the requirements of our water permit that was issued to the City of Maryville in 1987 by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Division of Water Pollution Control and also is part of our City Emergency Management Plan for cases of drought and water interruption.” He added that the City has emergency plans for a variety of other scenarios to protect the health, safety and welfare of the community.

The Alcoa City Commission enacted Ordinance No. 07-141 earlier this year that adds enforcement measures to water conservation measures that have been in the City’s operations plans since the mid 1980’s.

The City of Maryville and City of Alcoa will inform its customers through the use of media when the mandatory cutback in water usage is lifted. For more details, call Maryville Water Quality Control at 981-3300 or the Alcoa Public Works & Engineering Department at 380-4800.