U.S. Water News Online
LUBBOCK, Texas -- Residents in this West Texas city will begin the first stage of mandatory water restrictions, joining nearly 200 municipalities limiting usage in a state that has never had a drier first six months of the year.
Across Texas, 197 of more than 4,500 public water suppliers have put restrictions on watering lawns and landscaping, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, which tracks the data.
Lubbock is almost 5 inches shy of normal rainfall amounts for just June and July, prompting city and county officials to encourage residents to pray for rain. Authorities are further leaning on people's faith by using an honor system for compliance.
"Once residents understand the need for conservation, they're willing to do their part," said Tom Adams, Lubbock's deputy city manager and water utility director. "What we want to do is avoid the daily watering with water running down the street."
While Lubbock is desperately dry, most of the cities and towns with restrictions are in northeast and central Texas.
Recently, 126 suppliers had mandatory restrictions, and 22 of those prohibited all outside watering, commission spokeswoman Andrea Morrow said.
"I'm sure it's been worse and probably will be in August, but it's pretty bad now," she said.
Groveton in East Texas had it bad for a while, utility department spokeswoman Crystal Christensen said. For several weeks recently, residents couldn't wash their cars, water their lawns or fill their swimming pools, she said.
"They went along with it, and they were very understanding," Christensen said.
They could, however, water potted plants and shrubs from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Mandatory restrictions were lifted following some good rains, but Christensen said the maximum restrictions "probably will come" again.
Many cities and towns restrict when residents can water, allowing it between 6 p.m. and 10 a.m., when evaporation robs the least amount of the applied water. Some allow watering of lawns and landscaping once a week; others opt to allow residents to water two times a week.
Residents of the Dallas suburb of McKinney, which set a usage record of 45 million gallons in one day, could get a citation for violating the once-a-week watering restriction, city spokesman Steve Hill said. If a resident contests the fine and loses, the cost could jump from about $400 to as much as $2,000, he said.
While restrictions are aimed at reducing usage, millions of gallons of water have been lost from water main breaks. In McKinney, there have been 40 breaks in the past two months, public works director Hal Cranor said.
Demand is greatest during the permitted watering hours of 6 p.m. to 10 a.m., but that's not causing the breaks, Cranor said. The drought is.
"It's the movement of the ground," said Cranor, who's seen sidewalks drop as much as 3 inches because of dry conditions. "This is a problem you have in Texas."
Without moisture, soil shrinks and the earth shifts, putting pressure on buried waterlines, he said.
McKinney isn't alone.
Utility crews in Richardson have had to repair 26 lines, and Arlington has had 122 ruptured pipes since mid-June. Mesquite has had 187 breaks since the beginning of last month -- about twice the normal number, The Dallas Morning News reported.
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