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Show 7 Regulation is one approach to water conservation. A regulation is a rule or guideline that an agency issues to the public in order to control some aspect of public behavior. Regulations concerning water conservation include suggestions on how much water to apply to a landscape, or rules on how much water an appliance, like a toilet or faucet, should use. They also include restrictions on when to apply water to a landscape and how. These regulations can be either voluntary or mandatory. Voluntary regulations are a type of regulatory approach. They consist of guidelines presented to the public in order to encourage a reduction in water consumption. Their effectiveness depends on their success in raising public awareness. However, voluntary regulations do not require the consumer to change his behavior. For example, an agency may issue a voluntary regulation to water a landscape during morning or evening hours only. However, if a user is seen watering his lawn at high noon under a blazing sun, he will not be forced by the police or the water agency to comply with the regulation. Mandatory regulations are similar, but there is some mechanism in the program to enforce compliance from the public. Using the previous example, if that same consumer was not following the landscape- watering restrictions and had his sprinklers going at noon, he could be issued a citation or fine ( www. slcsaveh2o. com/ brouchures, 10/ 21/ 03). In some cases, water agencies go as far as shutting off water to a user for regulation violations. Mandatory regulations, if they are enforced properly, seem like they would be very effective in reducing water consumption. However, there are several |