Lisa Gardner, City Council Communications Director, 509.625.6226
Tuesday, June 7, 2022 at 8:32 a.m.
During tonight’s Legislative Session, Spokane City Council voted 5-1 (Councilmember Bingle absent) to override the Mayoral veto of Ordinance C36209, which establishes water conservation and drought response measures. The ordinance originally passed 5-2 on May 23, 2022, and was vetoed by the Mayor on June 2, 2022. The ordinance is effective immediately and puts drought response measures in place that would activate during the highest use times of the year to help meet citywide water conservation goals.
“This new policy simply asks Spokane residents to consider their impact on our river, infrastructure, and fire suppression capacity during the summer season,” says Councilmember Lori Kinnear, who co-sponsored the legislation. “Any enforcement of these new expectations won’t occur for at least two years, and there are no financial consequences for non-compliance. Codifying these measures is fundamentally rooted in education. When we set these expectations, we are also committing to messaging to residents why it’s essential to begin to shift our water use habits.”
The City’s water department will provide education and community engagement to all water ratepayers within the city’s retail water delivery area on the importance of complying with the new ordinance highlighting the benefits to the community and the river.
