Rochester water ban begins Monday, includes both city water and private wells

The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is urging municipalities to implement water-use restrictions. Drought conditions have become significantly worse, with more than half the state in drought and the extreme drought moving from the Seacoast farther into southern New Hampshire. Low stream flows and low groundwater levels are occurring across the state.

To address the ongoing drought conditions, the City of Rochester will implement the following water restrictions to help conserve our water resources:

• No outside use for lawn watering or irrigation. This will apply to automatic sprinklers, automatic irrigation systems, and any unattended lawn watering. The only exceptions to this restriction are commercial car washes, cash crops, farms, flower shops or garden centers.
• Filling of any swimming pools greater than 100 gallons capacity is prohibited.
• Watering by hose is allowed by incidental use only such as filling watering cans and children's pools of no greater than 100 gallons.
• Washing of vehicles including automobiles, trailers, trucks, etc. by hose is prohibited.
• Limited irrigation will be permitted between the hours of 5:00 PM and 8:00 AM for newly seeded areas and vegetable gardens, provided someone is present using a hose equipped with an automatic shut-off device.
• Enforcement and Penalties shall be carried out by authorized agents of the City of Rochester and include:

1. First Offense - Written warning hand delivered to site of violation
2. Subsequent offenses - $100 fine and possible shut-off of water service

Residents were urged by the city to monitor further developments in the coming weeks.