The Laguna Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to halt all new pool applications for the next 45 days, allowing staff time to draft an ordinance that would keep the ban in place until the state’s emergency drought declaration is lifted. The item was introduced by Council Member Toni Iseman who called water conservation a “patriotic duty” of all residents of the parched state.
“In this time where we are monitoring how we brush our teeth and making other sacrifices, people are not doing their patriotic duty in this time of crisis,” Iseman said. “Laguna was named a water-wise community in a national contest. How can we claim the water-wise label and let pools appear in the drought?”
City Manager John Pietig expressed concerns that the council was moving too quickly in its decision, noting that some approved pool applications may already be in the works. But the decision can’t come soon enough for the city, as far as Iseman and the other council members are concerned. Swimming pools can require as much as 30,000 gallons of water and there are already 1,213 pools in Laguna Beach, which imports all of its water. As Iseman notes, even empty pools pose potential because they provide a breeding ground for mosquitos.
According to the industry firm Construction Monitor, pool construction in 2014 hit its highest level in 7 years despite dire warnings about California’s drought. Laguna Beach is the first city in Southern California to stop pool construction in an effort to save water. The City of Milpitas in Santa Clara County banned new pool construction in June.
The issue will come back before the council in August, at which point they can extend the ban. In addition to the swimming pool moratorium, the council directed staff to draft an ordinance prohibiting decorative water fountains that don’t contain non-potable water-fill systems.
Life can be so unfair—even in Laguna.
Read more about Tuesday’s vote here.
Image Credit: Flickr User phalinn, https://flic.kr/p/n3HsvB via (CC BY 2.0)