Never on a Monday.

Or on a Thursday or a Friday.

Going forward no one — unless they have water miserly drip or micro spray systems — will be allowed to irrigate landscaping in Manteca on those three days.

Everyone else except for those businesses, industrial and institutional properties banned from irrigating period will only be able to water landscaping two days a week.

Starting  immediately even-numbered addresses will be allowed to irrigate on Tuesday and Saturday. Odd-numbered addresses will be allowed to irrigate on Wednesday and Sunday. No irrigation will be allowed on Monday, Thursday, and Friday.

It is part of of a list of water conservation measures adopted unanimously by the council Tuesday night as Manteca struggles to reduce water consumption by 20 percent over 2020 levels due to worsening drought conditions.

Manteca last month cut water use just 7 percent from July of 2020.

The reduction to two days of watering coupled with a new rule that prohibits water runoff onto driveways, sidewalks, gutters, streets and such is aimed at cutting back irrigation water ruse that accounts for more than a third of all water consumed in Manteca.

Staff, in presenting the final ordinance changes to the council, noted they had two public inquiries about the new water conservation changes. Both centered around the use of inflatable slides that use water.

It is legal to use such devices that recycle the water for use again and again. Those inflatable slides using water that don’t recycle water as well as other recreational uses that require a continuous flow of water such as Slip ‘n’ Slides cannot legally be used.

As part of their enforcement effort, the city has just added a hotline (209-456-8410) for citizens to call to report violations of the drought rules in addition to online reporting.

Additional key changes the council made are as follows:

*Turf at commercial, industrial and institutional locations such as hospitals can no longer be irrigated with potable water except for carved out exceptions where it is used for recreation and such.

The  new rules make exceptions for the golf course, Manteca Unified schools, and other locations allowed for under the state emergency order issued June 10.

 *Exempted City of Manteca golf course and facilities, Manteca Unified School District, private parks, and other landscaped areas greater than 4 acres from the scheduled watering days.

*Exempted landscape irrigation exclusively using drip or micro spray systems from the scheduled watering days.

*Restricted evaporative coolers without a recycled pump.

The city ordinance calls for a warning on the first offense, a $50 fine on the second offense, a $100 fine on the third offense, and a $250 fine on every offense thereafter.

During the 2015 drought, the city slapped $1,200 plus on one homeowner before they complied with the rules.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com