CLAREMONT — The Department of Public Works has issued mandatory water restrictions due to the ongoing drought.
As of Friday, Claremont residents who are on the city’s water system must limit when they water their lawns, wash their vehicles and wash down pavement, according to an announcement from the Public Works Department that was was published to the city’s Facebook page Thursday morning.
Those who live at odd-numbered addresses may do so only on odd-numbered days of the week; those who live at even-numbered addresses may do so on even-numbered days of the week.
The restrictions, which affect the city’s 3,500 water customers, will remain in place until drought conditions ease.
Parts of the Upper Valley — including most of Grafton County — are now facing an “extreme” drought, according to a map published Thursday by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
But for now, Claremont is still in a “severe” drought. The city still has sufficient drinking water and fire protection, Claremont Public Works Director Alex Gleeson said in a Friday morning phone interview.
“I’d rather be preemptive and conserve now,” Gleeson said. “If you get into ‘extreme (drought)’ and start enforcing you’ve lost that conservation time.”
Those who violate the restrictions will receive a written warning, followed by fines ranging from $250 to $1,000 per day, according to the Claremont City Code. In extreme cases, they could face having their water service turned off.
Claremont has had voluntary water restrictions in place since earlier this month. In the weeks since, Gleeson said that he has noticed an average reduction of 100,000 gallons per day.
“I think people know there’s a huge drought that’s not normal going on and everybody is seemingly doing their part to help out with conservation,” he said.
