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Mandatory water restrictions may take effect July 1

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  • Brian Cuaron •
  • Originally published June 20, 2011 at 6:12 p.m., updated June 20, 2011 at 11:30 p.m.

Victoria may initiate mandatory water restrictions July 1, an official said Monday.

"If we keep continuing the same way we are now, we feel pretty confident July 1 will be that date," said Jimmy Roach, deputy director of public works.

Currently, the Guadalupe River must have a water flow of at least 250 cubic feet per second for the city to draw from it. However, that stipulation goes up to 300 cubic feet per second in July, Roach said.

He added that the water flow is currently at 264 cubic feet per second, making it likely that the city won't be allowed to draw from the river next month.

Once the city can no longer draw from the Guadalupe River, it enters phase two of its drought contingency plan. That includes mandatory water restrictions.

The city revised its drought contingency plan May 17. That set earlier trigger levels for water restrictions.

Below are some of the mandatory water restrictions that residents can expect:

Landscape irrigation: Limited between 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., and 8 p.m. to midnight.

NOTE: You can water your lawn at any time by using a hand-held hose equipped with a cut-off nozzle. You can also use a hand-held 5-gallon bucket, or a drip irrigation system.

Washing vehicles: Limited between 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., and 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

NOTE: This doesn't apply to a commercial car wash.

Refilling pools: Limited between 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., and 8 p.m. to midnight.

Golf course irrigation: Limited between 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., and 8 p.m. to midnight.

Water from hydrants: Limited to public welfare use, like fire fighting or flushing of water.

Roach said that water use has actually gone up since the city called for voluntary water restrictions in May. He added that irrigation was the biggest use of water.

"We just ask that the residents do their part and conserve water when possible," Roach said.




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Comments

  • markkrueger markkrueger Report a ViolationReport a Violation Permalink  | 

    Carpenter, you talking about those sprinklers? Also, what about the golf courses? Those aren't little ol' sprinkler heads like you use in your front yard. The water coming out of one of those will put a hurt on ya. Also, instead of rotating them it seems that they could run all of them simultaneously during the 8 hours of grace.

    Say, on the subject but next door in DeWitt County, I saw a tanker filling up from a fire hydrant today. I had to pull a u-turn to make sure because I thought surely my eyes were deceiving me.

    June 22, 2011 at 2:06 p.m.
  • Carpenter Carpenter Report a ViolationReport a Violation Permalink  | 

    "We just ask that the residents do their part and conserve water when possible," Roach said.

    I just ask that VISD do the same..

    June 21, 2011 at 4:53 p.m.
  • markkrueger markkrueger Report a ViolationReport a Violation Permalink  | 

    At least Victoria has the fourteen water wells to rely upon as backup. I hope the city doesn't do another swap with the State, dumping ground water into the Guadalupe downstream of the intake. That was just plain weird unless there's something wrong with the ground water that we're not aware of.

    June 21, 2011 at 7:38 a.m.