YERINGTON - Watering the sidewalk or street instead of your lawn in Dayton Valley could lead to fines of $25 to $1,000 if the gentle warnings from Dayton Utilities don't encourage you to conserve water.
A new law will be in place in about two weeks giving Dayton Utilities and the Lyon County Sheriff's Department the authority to impose penalties on people who waste water.
Lyon County commissioners on Thursday approved an ordinance specifically spelling out fines for wasting water and allowing court-ordered restitution for the cost of wasted water and any damage or loss to the water system.
The new law must be published twice in a newspaper before it goes into effect. Deputy District Attorney Steve Rye expects the law to be enforceable by early July.
Before any fines are issued, though, Dayton Utilities intends to give violators warnings, office manager Misty Plett said.
"We don't want to go out and get them," Plett said. "We just want them to be aware. Some people don't realize their sprinklers are hitting the street or their car instead of the lawn. We're going to try and work with people as much as we can."
Plett said fines mostly will go to people who are not cooperative when asked to stop wasting water.
The new fine schedule is as follows:
- First violation: $25.
- Second violation: $50.
- Third violation: $250.
- Fourth violation: $500.
- Successive violations: $1,000.
Previously, Lyon County did not have a clear law on how to issue fines or take violations to court.
"It was real difficult to cite someone because the ordinance was unclear," said Dan O'Brien, public works director in Lyon County. "It was difficult to see where it fit, was it criminal or what."
Like traffic tickets, any water wasting violations are regarded as misdemeanors with civil penalties.
"This makes it a little easier in egregious cases for the sheriff to issue citations," Rye said.
Plett said the sheriff's department and utilities officials have not determined yet specifically how the law will be enforced. Plett said a limited number of Dayton Utilities employees will probably be able to write citations as will sheriff's deputies.
Plett said Dayton Utilities just sent notices to all customers encouraging them to water only on odd or even days to help conserve water.
"We live in the desert," she said. "We've had a lot of wet years but we want to conserve now for drought years that might come."
Determining water wasting violations is up to the discretion of utilities officials or sheriff's deputies. Plett said this typically involves allowing water to run down sidewalks and gutters.
Dayton Utilities provides water service in the Dayton Valley, Mound House and Willow Creek.