Fines of $500 for Those Who Steal Water
Summer season is getting closer and the City of Laredo is urging the community to take action in conserving water.
Our reporter Carolina Garcia speaks to a representative with the utilities department who says citations will be given to those who take advantage and use the resource without paying for it.
5 Hundred dollars per violation per day is the fine residents who are caught stealing water from a water hydrant or making any other violations could face.
Water Conservation Planner Karla Robles said that in addition to that there’s also the water waste fees so every costumer that receives a citation for the first time, they will also have a five dollars water waste fee added to their bill and it increases if violation is repeated.
Karla Robles says once the consumer reachers a 6th citation, another fine of 360 dollars will be applied.
That’s because she says the water conservation and the drought contingency ordinance have been taken lightly by many residents.
Now they are approaching the community raising awareness of steps that can be followed to help conserve water.
Robles said, “Not leaving the hose unattended making sure if they see anybody stealing water from the fire hydrant to contact us because that’s a way of conserving water.”
Robles says reporting a violation can save thousands of gallons of the natural resource.
We speak to a local resident, Benny Salinas who says he has done that in the past.
He said, “On the first I was hey they’re water leaking and people aren’t aware of it so let me go ahead and report it to the proper authorities so they can go ahead and repair it.”
Laredo is currently in stage of two of the contingency ordinance which asks residents to voluntarily water their plants only three times a week but Robles says that can change at any point for several reasons.
She says the water plant can process 60 million gallons of water per day and as the city grows that amount does not increase.
