U.S. Water News Online
LAS VEGAS, N.M. -- City officials have decided to lift a long-standing ban on outdoor watering because of a wet weather pattern that has been hanging over the area.
City Manager Morris Madrid said rain and snow have fallen on the city every day for the past week, while the snowpack at the city's watershed has increased significantly.
``We're in the best situation we've been in for years, and (residents) should be given some relief. They deserve it,'' he said.
Under the eased restrictions, property owners may water between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. or between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on a rotation system where even-numbered addresses water on even-numbered calendar days and odd-numbered addresses on odd-numbered days.
Residents here have had few opportunities to water outside in the past two years. They've enjoyed a few months, off and on, where watering once a week was allowed.
And it wasn't long ago that officials were looking at falling levels at the city's reservoirs. They estimated in February that without any rain or snow, the city had 200 days of water storage left.
Storrie Lake, where the city had 500 acre feet of storage available, had sunk so low in February the city couldn't access what remained from its permanent drain pipe at the reservoir. An acre foot is 325,851 gallons of water.
Madrid said the canal that feeds the lake was a rushing river. The drain pipe is covered by water and access is back to normal, he said.
Despite the good news, Madrid said city officials are still encouraging conservation.
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