Village of Middlefield sets water conservation mandate

MIDDLEFIELD Ohio (WOIO) - The recent lack of rain is causing the village of Middlefield to take action.

On Thursday the village passed a mandatory water conservation moratorium .

Meaning the people in the village, including businesses, can only use water for essential needs.

Non-essential water use would include things like washing your car, watering plants, and filling up swimming pools.

Middlefield Police Chief and Director of Streets & Utilities, Joe Tucholski, told 19 News the LaDue Reservoir is a physical reminder of why conserving this water is so important.

"There's actually more land showing than water, I've never seen it that low," said Tucholski.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor Geauga county is Abnormally Dry.

The village says they want to be proactive and there are things you can do to help like wait to do laundry until you have a full load, fix any leaks you may have, and turn off your faucets when you're not using them.

According to the Moratorium, these rule could be in place for at most 6 months.

If you don't follow them, you could be guilty of a minor misdemeanor.

Chief Tucholski has been driving around the village since Thursday speaking to people who are breaking the rules.

"Some of these people with new lawns have 2 or 3 sprinklers going at a time," said Tucholski. "So I'm stopping and letting them know that we need to conserve as much as possible".

The village is planning to get a new well soon, and they're hoping consistent rain will be coming soon.

"We need long lasting rains, " said Tucholski. "As long as they replenish the aquifer and we start to gain inches in the well than we can reduce the legislation".

Tucholski tells 19 News he doesn't expect the Moratorium to last the whole 6 months.

"We're guessing in the next month or so we can stop conserving," said Tucholski.