The Wareham Water Department is restricting sprinkler usage to every other day from May 1 to September 30 in order to conserve water in Wareham.

Wareham residents who have even numbered street addresses are asked to water their lawn on even numbered calendar days. Residents with odd numbered street address are asked to water on odd numbered days.

The restriction, also known as the "odd/even sprinkler ordinance," only applies to sprinklers and does not apply to hand held hoses.

For newly seeded lawns, the ordinance permits a twenty-day exemption.  Copies of the Department's policy and the new lawn exemptions are available at the Wareham Water Department Office located at 2550 Cranberry Highway.

The Department does enforce the ordinance and penalties do apply.

The ordinance, called "demand management" by the Water Department, is part of an overall water conservation plan developed in 2002 to comply with an administrative order form the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

Without demand management, the Water Department would have to run all six well pumps at full capacity for 24 hours a day in order to maintain water pressure. This could result in the breakdown of a well which would result in a breakdown in the summertime when need is its greatest.

“Some sort of water conservation plan is a requirement under the Water Management Act,” said Michael Martin, Superintendent for the Wareham Water Department in a prepared statement.

“The intent of demand management is to prevent a water shortage rather than to respond to one with a ban; the odd/even sprinkler ordinance is the least restrictive, yet most effective means of water conservation we have.”