SAN ANGELO, TX -- The City of San Angelo's drought contingency ordinance demands that drought level one kick in Wednesday, Aug. 1 because the city has less than a 24 month supply of water.
According to the city's website, outside watering goes from twice a week to once a week and anyone who uses more than 3,000 gallons per month will see a five percent increase in their water bill.
The string of 100 degree days has pushed evaporation in area lakes faster than rainfall is replenishing the surface water.
“San Angelo has for years now embraced water conservation, realizing how vital an adequate water supply is for the continued growth of our community,” Mayor Brenda Gunter said. “We are now asking our citizens to be even more mindful about their water usage and to redouble their conservation efforts. In short, we all need to do our part and be water-smart.”
On July 17, the San Angelo city council adopted a resolution triggering drought level one beginning Aug. 1.
According to the resolution:
1) The amount of water available to the City from its developed water sources being estimated by the Director of Water Utilities to meet the criteria for entering “Drought Level I”. City Council hereby declares that the City is in such Drought Level I stage; and
2) All water conservation measures as detailed under the Drought Level Istage of the City’s Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan shall be applicable and enforced August 1, 2018; and
3) All water rate adjustments enacted with the implementation of the Drought Level I stage shall become effective on August 1, 2018; and
4) When the available water supply rises above the trigger point for Drought Level I stage, the Director of Water Utilities may recommend to the City Council termination of Drought Level I stage status and a return to Drought Level I stage status or other recommendation.
5) The City Clerk shall cause notice of this Resolution to be published one time in a newspaper of general circulation in the City of San Angelo.
The water conservation and drought contingency plan includes trigger points for three different drought stages. Level one kicks in when the city has a 24 month water supply, level two kicks in when there is an 18 month supply remaining, and the most extreme level starts when the city has less than 12 months water supply remaining. In addition, water rates increase by a minimum of five percent for residential customers who use more than 3,000 gallons per month and all commercial customers.
The report to the council Tuesday says the Colorado River Municipal Water District projects O.H. Ivie water will be available to the city until August of 2019 and then the city will be dependent on groundwater from the Hickory Aquifer and local lakes which is projected to last until July of 2020.
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Comments
Looking for ways to make cash. We all remember the last time we were asked to conserve water.....
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PermalinkIf the residents are asked to conserve water how about the city"s water usage for the golf courses, soccer fields and sports complex. I understand that these areas can bring in revenue but if I can live with dead dusty yards others can also. Do the car wash places stop washing cars?
Now I may be not the sharpest pencil in the box but does anyone else feel confused with # 4 on the city's resolution. Just saying.
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PermalinkA rock and a hard place. Municipalities here in W Texas all suffer the same conundrum. Water resources getting low? Create usage restrictions and raise the cost to promote conservation. Citizens comply, whether for noble or financial reasons, and when the cities enter into their annual budget retreat, the water dept cries loss of revenue, creating a cascade effect on the budgets of all the other city departments.
Same old song, second verse.
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PermalinkWhile the City is often accused of charging a surcharge to raise revenue, surcharges are meant (and have proven to be) effective in encouraging conservation. Once the drought contingency plan is triggered, it is essential that we stretch our available water supply as far as possible until rains are able to replenish our reservoirs. For the average household, if its usage does not change, the surcharge will amount to 72 cents per month.
All water customers, including parks, golf courses and car washes, must adhere to the restrictions. Car washes typically recycle and reuse their water. Businesses account for 13% of the water used in San Angelo. Car washes account for only a very slim slice of that. Golf courses are allowed to water greens daily. And here's a message from the City's senior Parks manager on how our Parks system is approaching the drought restrictions:
Given that we are entering Drought Level 1, Parks staff has decided to be proactive and cut back on watering of parks and sports fields throughout San Angelo. For those areas with mature turf and trees, we will be cutting back to once every other week. Obviously, visual conditions of these sites may become unattractive, but we are confident we will not lose any trees or turf and will continue to monitor these sites closely.
Areas that were recently sodded or seeded (i.e. without a fully developed or mature root system) this past spring/early summer and other specific sites will be irrigated once per week per our ordinance. Examples include: Neff’s Park north of Celebration Bridge, Civic League Park, the dog park, City Hall (drip irrigation), Love Municipal Pool, and the zoyzia grass at The Bosque and south of Kids Kingdom. The same will apply to Texas Bank Sports Complex, where the public investment is extremely high (although we may soon take this area to once every other week).
In addition, Parks staff will be watering trees in Santa Fe Park (primarily from the South Abe Street ramp to Pecos Street) with water tanks, water trucks and the existing irrigation system.
-- Anthony Wilson, public information officer, City of San Angelo
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