Travis County Water District 10 enters Stage 1 drought restrictions with lake levels low
Customers in Travis County Water District 10, which encompasses West Lake Hills and the surrounding area, will have to conserve water under newly announced Stage 1 restrictions or risk up to a $500 fine.
The district is a wholesale customer of Austin Water, which also announced Stage 1 restrictions Monday, the same day the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the region to warn residents about an increased risk of heat-related illnesses because of triple-digit temperatures.
"We are in a drought and Central Texas has limited supply of water,” District General Manager Carla Orts said. “We have to be very conscientious to conserve what water we do have available.”
This followed Austin Water implementing “conservation stage” level restrictions this year. With the volume of water stored in lakes Travis and Buchanan on Monday at about 1.38 million acre-feet and dropping, the city of Austin initiated new water usage rules for residents.
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Under Stage 1 restrictions, watering via automatic irrigation systems is reduced to 13 hours, from midnight to 8 a.m. and from 7 p.m. to midnight.
Previous watering restrictions under Conservation Stage, the lowest stage of the Water Conservation Code, remain unchanged. These include:
A once-a-week automatic irrigation watering schedule for residents and businesses: Wednesday for odd-numbered home addresses, Thursday for even home addresses, Tuesday for even business addresses, Friday for odd business addresses.
A twice-a-week hose-end irrigation watering schedule for residents: Thursday and Sunday for homes with even addresses, Wednesday and Saturday for homes with odd addresses.
Once-a-week hose-end sprinklers for businesses: Tuesday for even addresses and Friday for odd addresses.
Businesses limiting the use of patio misters to between 4 p.m. and midnight.
Wasting water is also prohibited, which includes failing to repair a controllable leak like a broken pipe or valve. Washing vehicles at home is permitted with an auto shut off hose or bucket and charity car washes may only be held at a commercial car wash site. Fountains must recirculate water and restaurants cannot serve water unless it is requested by a customer.
Orts said the last time Austin experienced Stage 1 restrictions was from Sept. 27 to Nov. 12, 2018. To move back down to the conservation stage, combined lake storage must exceed 1.4 million acre feet and be expected to remain above that threshold for four months.
Stage 2, which triggers tighter restrictions, will occur if combined lake storage falls below 900,000 acre feet. Austin was last in Stage 2 from Sept. 2012 until May 2016, Orts said.
Data last week from the U.S. Drought Monitor show the Austin metro area's five counties — Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell — experiencing conditions from abnormally dry to extreme drought.
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Although the portion of the state affected by drought decreased slightly from 87.1% the previous week to about 85.9%, the area of exceptional drought — the most severe level of drought — sits just outside the western borders of Williamson, Travis and Hays counties.
Orts said reducing irrigation at your home makes a huge difference in water usage and can save some money. Scheduling an automatic irrigation once a week instead of two or three times a week saves 7,000 to 14,000 gallons and could lead to $150 or more in monthly savings on a water bill.
“We're looking for relief, for some rain, but otherwise we're going to have to depend on our residents to ensure that they're following restrictions,” she said. “Every individual can make a big difference.”
Roberto Villalpando contribute reporting.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Westlake residents asked to conserve under new drought restrictions
