UPDATE: Sprinkling in Sussex: 'There's a Water Shortage'

With the string of record-breaking temperatures in Sussex, the village’s Public Works Committee is imposing a voluntary restriction on sprinkling.

The group of officials met Tuesday night at where Village Administrator Jeremy Smith said water use has been reaching more than 2.5 million gallons a day. Between the Fourth of July holiday and one of Sussex’s water wells needing repairs, the Public Works Committee took action.

However, rather than a ban where citations would be issued, Smith suggested a more voluntary approach.

“The challenge you have if you put a hard-ban in place is that it’s a difficult political position for police officers to go knock on doors,” Smith said. “Are you really going to give people tickets for watering their lawns?”

Smith said letting residents know the system is crossing the threshold into dangerous territory is usually enough to help. Sussex is asking homeowners to only water their lawns every other day until the extremely dry conditions improve.

The Village of Sussex asks that if your address ends in an odd number that you only water your lawn on odd days of the month, July 13, 15, and 17, etcetera.  If your address ends in an even number the Village asks that you only water your lawn on even days of the month, July 14, 16, and 18, etcetera. Of course if you don’t need to water your lawn the Village encourages you to let it go dormant during this dry season. 

The village says there is not a restriction against watering flowers or while first establishing lawns as those often require more frequent water. In addition, the village said in a statement that residents should water later in the evening or early in the morning, and to try and avoid watering on the weekends as much as possible. 

But to Trustee Tim Dietrich, the plan to cut back on sprinkling seemed almost comical. While he agreed that a voluntary ban is necessary, he noted Sussex’s severe case of ‘brown lawn syndrome.’

Sussex is asking homeowners to only water their lawns every other day until the extremely dry conditions improve.

“It wouldn’t seem to me that this is a super huge problem, because you don’t see too many green lawns in the village,” Dietrich said with a smile. "I think everyone knows there's a water shortage." 

The ban comes after Gov. Scott Walker a state of emergency because of the dry conditions. It might not come as a surprise, but 42 counties in Wisconsin are officially considered in drought, including Ozaukee, Milwaukee, Racine and Waukesha counties.

His declaration allows for expedited permits for farmers to temporarily use stream or lake water for irrigation.