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Villages Water Rules
Villages Water RulesThe Villages Association Rules: Some rules are specific to the Villages: At the ABOD’s regular meeting of November 16, 2021, the Board approved activation of paragraph 3 of rule 2.14 to disallow the washing of privately-owned Villages-registered vehicles within the Condominium Development and to disallow hosing off/down of villa patios, driveways, and walkways. Read about this rule.
What to do if you see what you believe is a violation of our water rules; it doesn’t matter if it’s ABOD or Club property–the steps are the same.
1. Submit a work order to maintenance. It’s better to do this online through the resident portal than by phone (unless it’s an urgent issue, like a huge leak) so there will be written documentation. Be sure to keep a copy of your work order submissions by copy/paste into a Word document. If the issue is not at your own address, you won’t receive any further information about the status of the work order. Keeping your own documentation is helpful if you need to reference the work order.
IMPORTANT: You will be asked for an address where the violation occurred. Put the nearest address or cross streets but *make sure* in the place to write comments that you state that the property in question is part of an **HOA** and **the responsible party is The VIllages**, not the homeowner at that address. Otherwise, a resident will receive a Notification of Violation letter. (Yes, this has already happened).
2. If you have a phone that can take photos/videos, snap a picture or video of the issue. You can attach it to the work order.
3. For all violations of watering restrictions, including a leak that hasn’t been addressed within a reasonable time from the submission of the work order, you can submit a water waste report. This is a report that goes to Valley Water; it’s a way to ensure that water waste & violations of watering restrictions are appropriately addressed and that they don’t fall through the cracks, but may incur a fine for the Villages, so give our local staff a reasonable time to address the issue.
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Local Water Agencies & Rules
Do you get confused on who provides our water? Per Kat Feliz, chairperson on the newly (re)formed ABOD Water Conservation Committee, “The names of two of the local water retailers are often conflated because they are so similar. San Jose Water and San Jose Municipal Water System (our retailer, run by the City of San Jose) are two different entities. There’s not much we can do about the similar names except to make sure when anyone says “the water company” that we verify which retailer is being referenced.”
“We must follow San Jose Municipal Water System’s restrictions, including keeping an eye on any Level changes that the City Council makes. When the City of San Jose/San Jose Municipal Water System goes to Level 3, car washing is restricted*. San Jose Municipal Water System is a bit of a mouthful, so it’s easy to understand why some people may shorten it to San Jose Water, but that’s a completely different entity. “SJ Muni” or even “Muni” (not to be confused with SF’s Muni public transportation system!) is an accepted, shorter, way of referring to our water retailer.”
*Note that car washing is currently restricted by Villages Association Rules (see more in above Villages Water Rules).
1. Current watering restrictions:
San Jose Municipal Water Service
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/79078/637710317313530000 (table)
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/your-government/environment/water-utilities/drinking-water/water-efficiency/water-use-rules-for-businesses
State Water Board Emergency Regulations
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/conservation_portal/regs/emergency_regulation.html
2. Drought statistics
https://www.drought.gov/states/california/county/santa%20clara
3. Additional resources:
City of San Jose Municipal Code 15.10
https://library.municode.com/ca/san_jose/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TIT15PUUT_CH15.10WAWAPRWASHME
Waterfluence
https://www.waterfluence.com/
https://www.waterfluence.com/rankings