City to go to stage 1 water restrictions

Kerrville Daily Times

By Tim Sampson
The Daily Times

Published August 17, 2010

It’s time to reset the automatic timer on all those sprinklers.

At 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, the city of Kerrville will enact stage one water conservation restrictions to help preserve local supply, limiting the time that automatic or hose-end sprinklers can be used to maintain lawns and gardens.

On stage one restrictions, sprinklers will be permitted from 6 to 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. to midnight. Resident’s living at odd numbered addresses can water during these hours on Monday and Saturday; residents at even addresses can water Tuesday and Sunday. Use of hand-held hoses, with nozzles, drip irrigation or bucket watering still are permitted any day at any time.

“It’s not as bad as last year, by any stretch of the imagination,” said Stuart Barron, water/wastewater manager for the city. “But this is a dry climate, and this is the driest time of year.”

Last year, the use of sprinklers were entirely prohibited when the city moved to stage four restrictions at the height of an 18-month long drought.

The water restrictions are laid out in a 2004 ordinance passed by city council, establishing the thresholds for certain stages and authorizing the city manager to enact the restrictions when those conditions are met.

To be at stage one means that the seven-day average water demand in Kerrville has reached

65 percent of the city’s safe operating capacity. On average, city residents consume a combined 5.76 million gallons of water each day. The level of the Guadalupe River has also dropped to a flow rate of 39 cubic feet per second.

“That number is falling daily right now,” Barron said.

Water restrictions are policed by code enforcement officers and utility employees. In most cases, a person caught breaking the restrictions will receive a warning the first time and a citation on any further infractions. The ordinance states that citations can range from $50 to $2,000 based on the scale of the offense.

Given normal weather patterns, Barron said that restrictions probably will stand for several months, noting that autumn and winter are rainy seasons in the Hill Country.

“We hope, of course, that we don’t have to move to stage two,” he said. “But it’s August, so there is still a lot of heat to come.”