PLEASANT VIEW — Pleasant View City has joined a chorus the includes many other governments across the state formally asking residents to reduce water usage and warning of increased punitive measures for those who don’t.

To address worsening, statewide drought conditions, the Pleasant View City Council recently adopted a joint proclamation with the mayor’s office, asking residents to significantly cut their water usage, both secondary and culinary.

The proclamation limits outdoor use of culinary water whenever local water companies shut off secondary water this year. Pineview Water Systems provides water for Pleasant View and eight other communities along the northern Wasatch Front, including Ogden, North Ogden, Harrisville, Farr West, Plain City, South Ogden, Washington Terrace and Perry.

According to a city press release, Pleasant View residents without access to secondary water can continue to use culinary water for outdoor watering until access to secondary water is removed from other residents. Exceptions include the watering of trees, shrubbery and plants for personal food production.

The release says Pleasant View officials will monitor historic data of culinary water usage to determine instances where overuse occurs. Any water user who is determined to have violated the proclamation is subject to fines and water shut-offs.

For first-time violations, a written warning by the city’s public works staff will be handed out. On second violations, another written notice will be given, along with a $250 fine applied to the violator’s culinary water bill. A third violation constitutes a Class C misdemeanor, with the possibility of more fines and, according to the city’s release, jail time. Anything beyond a third violation could result in a possible shut-off of a culinary water connection.

The city also says any proposals for new development will be carefully scrutinized to determine prospective impacts on the city’s water resources. Pleasant View will also not enforce its landscape requirements for the duration of the proclamation, which will remain in effect until Nov. 30.

“The city has noticeably reduced its outdoor watering of parks and public spaces and we encourage residents to do the same,” said Pleasant View Mayor Leonard Call. “These are challenging times, and we are grateful for the efforts of residents, city staff and all who are working to conserve the precious resource of our local water supply. Our hope is to ensure that water is thoughtfully used and remains protected to retain access to this critical resource to sustain life.”

According to the National Integrated Drought Information System, 100% of Weber County is in an “extreme drought,” the second most significant drought classification under the NIDIS monitoring system. According to the NIDIS, all of the following can be present during an extreme drought: pasture and water is inadequate for cattle, air quality is poor, dust is a problem, even native vegetation is stressed, stream flow is low and fire danger increases dramatically.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox issued a state of emergency declaration on March 17, and since then drought conditions have only worsened.