New watering rules

To address the ongoing drought, the Valley Water Board on Sept. 13 amended the county’s existing outdoor watering ordinance to allow Valley Water to enforce the state ban against watering decorative lawns on commercial, industrial and institutional properties.

Valley Water also streamlined its coordination with water retailers to speed up the time it takes to address water waste cases in Santa Clara County and avoid duplication of enforcement processes.

The updated outdoor watering ordinance goes into effect immediately. Restrictions approved by the board on April 12 remain in place, including bans on watering ornamental lawns more than two days a week, watering any outdoor landscape between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., any outdoor watering that results in runoff , and watering outdoors during and within 48 hours of rainfall.

NAMI Walk set

The annual fundraising and awareness event presented by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), known locally as NAMI Santa Clara County, is set for Oct. 1 at San Jose History Park.

Every year, NAMIWalks Your Way Silicon Valley raises funds for NAMI’s free programs and amplifies awareness to eliminate stigma around mental heath issues.

This year, the keynote speaker is San Francisco Giant Drew Robinson. Honorary chairpersons are Santa Clara County Supervisor Susan Ellenberg and BrainsWay CEO Dr. Chris Von Jako.

To register for NAMIWalks Your Way, visit namiwalks.org/siliconvalley. There is no registration fee, but fundraising is encouraged. Participants raising at least $100 receive an event T-shirt. One hundred percent of funds raised support NAMI Santa Clara County’s free local mental health programs, resources and services.

Source: www.mercurynews.com