City of Altoona recommends residents, businesses reduce water use for lawns
The new recommendation by the City is to make sure there is enough water for people to drink and for firefighter use.
ALTOONA, Wis. (WEAU) - The City of Altoona is making a recommendation that residents and businesses restrict their use of water for their lawns.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, the City said it created new recommendation guidelines to make sure there was enough water in the city for drinking and firefighting needs.
The recommendation asks residents and businesses to water their lawns every other day, with odd-numbered addresses assigned to Monday-Wednesday-Friday and even-numbered addresses assigned to Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday. The City also recommends no irrigation on Sundays and that newly-planted lawns can be watered daily for 30 days before transitioning to the recommended schedule.
In 2021, the City imposed two partial watering bans to help maintain water levels for drinking and firefighting needs. The partial bans allowed for watering lawns and washing vehicles on a similar every-other-day approach as the new recommendations, with fines up to $500 for violating the ban. The City said that the recommendations are just that — recommendations — at this point, but that if water demands exceed pumping capacity, the recommendations would become mandatory.
In the post, the City said it was working to add two new municipal wells “to address the increasing use of water,” but no timeline was given in the announcement.
The City said that if residents have questions, they can email cityhall@ci.altoona.wi.us or call 715-839-6092.
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