Public outdoor fountains in Palm Springs will be turned off as part of the city’s response to new water conservation requirements.
The fountain in front of Palm Springs International Airport, along with the one in Frances Stevens Park and the water feature in downtown’s Village Green will be discontinued as the region and state enter a fourth year of record drought.
“The city will be turning off the fountains, per the (Desert Water Agency) request,” City Manager David Ready said in an email Wednesday. “This would be in line, also, with the city council goal of achieving significant water conservation.”
The city’s announcement comes a day after the Desert Water Agency approved restrictions on outdoor irrigation and fountains with implications for newly constructed homes and buildings.
Notably, residents who rely on the agency for service — including most of Palm Springs and part of Cathedral City — will be limited to watering their lawns on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Commercial facilities will be subject to similar time restrictions, but on alternate days, which will be determined after consulting with agency staff.
What’s more, all of the area’s fountains — except those that rely on recycled water and support pets, including turtles — must be turned off. The agency is also will ban watering turf on street medians and roadsides.
Palm Springs has set the goal of reducing water use by 50 percent on public grounds and buildings.
A project is currently underway to convert some 100,000 square feet of lawn in the median of Tahquitz Canyon Way to desert landscaping. The move could save 4.5 million gallons of water a year — enough to fill nearly eight Olympic-sized swimming pools, according to city officials.
