By Charly SHELTON

On Tuesday evening at the Brand Library, the Glendale City Council held its monthly meeting, with updates on the drought in California, upcoming infrastructure projects and pedestrian safety, among other topics. The theme of the evening seemed to be water, or lack thereof.

“This is the lowest level that Hoover Dam has been at since the dam was built,” said Glendale Water and Power General Manager Steve Zurn. “What’s that mean? Well, there are other sources of water obviously, but we are also a member of the Hoover Dam on the other side – the electrical side. We get about 6% of our energy from this facility, so if that water doesn’t go through [the dam], we’ve got to find another place to get that electricity.”

Phase III mandatory water conservation has been in effect since April 28 of and allows for outdoor watering only two days a week for 10 minutes each time. This has cut the water usage by just under 26% overall. And although the majority of residents are very diligent in their conservation efforts, Zurn said, there are some who have been less so.

“We do have a number of folks who are just egregious offenders,” said Zurn. “For whatever reason, they are choosing not to [conserve]. Not a lot, obviously, or we wouldn’t be making those numbers, but we have a few. So we have stepped up our enforcement activities and a number of our staff have been trained through the city attorney’s office in the proper procedures. We will go out and document and begin issuing fines.”

After letters, notices, door hangers and personal contact with the offenders, then citations can be issued up to $1,000 for repeat offenders.

The issue of the drought came up again during the report on artificial turf placement, the report on upcoming infrastructure projects (i.e. water collection sites along an overhauled stretch of Pacific Avenue) and the report on the plan for West Glendale communities.

The next meeting of the Glendale City Council will be a “work boot” Tuesday meeting at Scholl Canyon Landfill on Sept. 15 at 3 p.m. There will be a guided tour of the landfill “in a safe and very liability free way,” said City Manager Scott Ochoa.