ERMUSR MISC 07-09-2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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IS IT YOUR DAY TO WATER?" By 1.AiJI2IE BLAKE Iblake@startribune.com is hot, dry and raining tick- ets for sprinkling violations in 'Eden Prairie, where more than 800 residents have been fined since Tune 1 for watering their lawns whE ey shouldn't. T'i,~ city is taking a hard line - regularly patrolling for violators at 3 a.m. -because lawn watering is drawing down reserves the city needs to fight fires. Already this sea- son, one of the city's four water tow- ers,has been drained nearly dry. "It's been so dry and people are watering a lot more than they should at times when they shouldn't be and it's deleting .our water system alarmingly so," said Leslie Stovring, the city's environmental coordinator. "More and more people are putting in irrigation systems and watering at night, so we are cracking down." Watering bans. are in full force around the metro area as communi- ties try to keep lawns green without draining water towers and without exceeding water-use limits s~ t by the Department of Natural Resources. The restrictions are not triggered by a lack of water, said DNR hydrolo- gist Dale Homuth. "We are not out ofwater -there is plenty ofwater," I~omuth said. Sprinkling continues on A10 - Inside: 20 cities rules. A30 - JOIN THE DISCUSSION Have you seen your neighbor go to great lengths to skirt a watering ban? Or have you paid the price of a green lawn? Please share your story at startribune.com/ a3014. CARLOS GONZALEZ • cgonzalez@staztribune.com Jason Punton used a spotlight to check the addresses of homes at about 4:30 a.m: Wednesday. Punton was looking for violators of Eden Prairie's lawn.-watering restrictions. In atwo-hour span, he cited about ?0 homeowners for violating the city's odd-even. rule.