Stage IV water use exemptions

The city has now published a list of businesses and other entities that have been given exemptions from the outdoor watering and other restrictions in effect under Stage IV mandatory water reductions efforts.

It's significantly shorter than the Stage III list, which had 80 some exemptions. According to the city's website, entities are granted the exemption "if it can be shown to the manager's satisfaction that the licensee's use of water will result in an overall fifty (50) percent or greater reduction in water use. (Emphasis added. For informational purposes, the reduction needed to be 30% to get a Stage III exemption. The 50% figure applies to Stage IV)

We've been trying for quite some time to get the city to confirm that all of the Stage III exempt entities had, in fact, reduced their consumption by 30%. We never did get a definitive answer.

The fact that 90% of the Stage III exempt entities have either not applied for or not yet been granted Stage IV exemptions may be significant. The most conspicuous absence is Duke University, whose exemption in order to water artifical surface athletic fields generated a lot of controversy on local email lists. We can only assume that the playing season is over, and the fields are on their own until the rains return.