City staff presented an updated draft water shortage response plan to the Moab City Planning Commission and requested feedback on triggers, exemptions and enforcement mechanisms.

Alexi (city staff) told the commission the update follows a 2021 water conservation plan requirement and is intended to prepare the city for equipment failures, distribution outages, contamination or drought that could reduce spring or well yields. Alexi said the draft adds a numeric table of historical water use to inform trigger thresholds and clarifies exemptions and enforcement pathways.

Commission discussion centered on enforcement and clarity of public guidance. Several commissioners and staff argued that the draft should differentiate enforcement by severity and accelerate penalties in an emergency. One commissioner said that in acute shortages, immediate on‑the‑spot penalties and even meter shutoffs may be appropriate; staff cautioned that enforcement capacity and due process must be considered. City staff agreed to consult the city attorney and public‑works records and to examine options to make penalties and compliance escalation steeper in higher‑severity stages.

Participants also raised practical communication issues: the draft currently lists percentage reduction targets for “indoor excess” uses; commissioners suggested replacing abstract percentage targets with concrete, staged behavioral recommendations (for example, short practical steps residents can take at each stage) to aid public understanding and compliance. The commission discussed evaporative (swamp) coolers and vulnerable populations; staff said cooling decisions involve public‑health tradeoffs and recommended caution in prescribing cooling shutdowns.

City staff noted an existing 2015 system vulnerability assessment and emergency response plan addressing immediate outage logistics and recommended linking the shortage plan to that operational document rather than duplicating procedures. The planning commission asked staff to draft clearer examples of household actions for each trigger stage, to propose a faster compliance track for severe stages, and to return with revised language after attorney review.

No formal action was taken; staff will refine enforcement language, exception/appeal procedures and the public communication approach and bring a revised draft back to the commission.