AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Growing drought conditions across much of Central Texas and the Hill Country are starting to have an impact on Austin residents, with the City of Austin announcing Stage 1 of its Drought Contingency Plan will go into effect on June 6.
City officials said the combined storage of Lake Travis and Lake Buchanan is currently 1.409 million acre-feet, with projections showing a drop below the 1.4 million mark in the next few days.
Under the city's Drought Contingency Plan, that 1.4 million acre-feet threshold is when City Manager Spencer Cronk can order the implementation of Stage 1 of the city's drought plan.
“Our community has embraced water conservation year-round and I’m confident they will step up to this additional restriction” said Interim Water Director Robert Goode. "The only change between Conservation Stage and Stage 1 is the reduction of automatic irrigation watering hours. Watering only in the early morning or late evening hours when temperatures are coolest, will help reduce unnecessary water loss through evaporation and that continues to support Austin’s water conservation efforts.”
Austin has remained at the conservation stage for more than three years.
Under Stage 1 restrictions, automatic irrigation systems are to be cut back from 15 hours a day to 13 hours a day (7pm - 8am) according to the once-per-week schedule for residential and commercial customers. All of the other restrictions from Conservation Stage will remain in effect.
“While the changes in restrictions for Stage 1 are limited, Austin Water also views the declaration of Stage 1 as an opportunity, and obligation, to inform citizens about the current situation with drought and lake volumes,” said Kevin Critendon, Assistant Director, Environmental, Planning and Development Services. “Although some rain has fallen in Central Texas this year, it doesn’t always make its way into the streams and rivers that replenish the Highland Lakes.”