Menlo Park Water Conservation Plan Calls for 30 Percent Reduction

Menlo Park is responding to the state's call to conserve more water during the severe drought by implementing an urgency ordinance.

The ordinance calls for residents to cut back their water use by 30 percent -- 10 percent more than what the state is asking.

"We're actually conserving a lot of water right now," resident Harry Williams said. "It would be really hard to find another 30 percent."

Mayor Ray Mueller said the state mandate requires the city to implement water district's individual plans for mandatory rationing. Menlo Park's conservation plan was drafted in the 1990s, requiring 30 percent.

"That is a significant reduction that I'm not sure some of us are going to be able to do," Mueller said.

Mueller said with so much already done to save, he is asking the state to allow the city to modify the plan to be in line with the state's 20 percent mandate.

"Whether it's 20 percent or 30 percent, the message to the consumer, the message to our resident is that this is serious," Mueller said.

Residents that are already serious about California's severe drought said there's no where else to cut.

"That would be difficult because we're already so low," resident Richard Recht said.

City officials said they had no choice but to implement the plan and are working again to lower the requirement.

Meanwhile, city officials are telling residents they will work on educating them about conservation prior to dishing out any fines.

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