Starting Monday, Aug. 5, Wichita residents may only water their lawns one day a week, as the City of Wichita enters Stage 2 of its drought plan.
All outdoor non-crucial watering for all water-users is restricted to once a week. People northwest of Central & Broadway may water on Mondays, to the northeast on Tuesdays, to the southwest on Wednesdays, and to the southeast on Thursdays. Watering is limited to before 10 a.m. and after 8 p.m.
Well-water customers are exempt from the restrictions, but are encouraged to comply.
City Manager Robert Layton announced the restrictions Thursday morning. Stage 2 will last for two months, until the irrigation season is over. The city hopes to reduce water use by 10%.
The city says it hoped to avoid Stage 2 water restrictions, but a voluntary decrease of water use was not as much as the city had hoped. Also, the extreme summer heat is not helping the cause.
Stage 2 is determined by the conservation pool at Cheney Lake.
Layton said since June 1, the Cheney conservation pool dropped from more than 68% down to 62% at the reservoir.
“I think we’ve actually dropped below that the last two days,” he said. “That is through water usage as well as evaporation from the heat we’ve had. As you can see, it’s a very dramatic drop in terms of our water levels at Cheney, and that really necessitated or led to the action we’re taking today.”
Wichita Public works staff will look at customer accounts to see if people are using excessive amounts of water; those customers who are will get a warning letter.
If high water use continues after the warning, the customer will be levied a $50 penalty the next time they exceed their average winter consumption, and a $100 penalty for each subsequent violation.