The Drought Emergency Plan helps us use water within our means | agriculture

The drought emergency plan helps us to use water within our means. Victoria has been lucky this year when it comes to water.

Healthy rainfall patterns in our region earlier this year helped us avoid the drought restrictions we typically experience in the summer. However, the dry conditions upstream have caught up with us in recent months and we need to make some changes to conserve water.

Recently the flow has been around 150 cfs, which is considered “low flow” for this time of year under the terms of our Texas Commission on Environmental Quality permit. Once the flow falls below this level, we must stop pumping and we enter Phase II of our Drought Contingency Plan.

Of course, the river still rises above this threshold from time to time, and when it does, we can pump a limited amount of water and gradually replenish our off-channel reservoirs. However, to maintain water levels in our reservoirs, we must continue to limit our water use until the river exceeds the low water level and remains so for 14 consecutive days.

The Drought Contingency Plan is divided into phases of increasing restrictions depending on how much we want to reduce our water use. These regulations are intended to keep our water use within our means without unduly impacting residents’ quality of life or livelihoods.

In Phase II we should use 5% less water than normal. At this time, certain types of water use are restricted to 6 a.m. – 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. midnight. If you run a sprinkler system during the heat of the day, up to 50% of your water can be lost to evaporation. Therefore, it is very helpful to do this during the cooler hours.

Activities restricted to these cooler hours include using an automatic lawn sprinkler or hose-end sprinkler, filling pools, and washing vehicles (although this rule does not apply to commercial car washes and gas stations). Residents can water their lawns with hoses at any time of day as long as the hose has a positive-closing nozzle. To read all the rules, visit www.victoriatx.gov/droughtplan.

Ultimately, water is a limited resource, and regardless of whether we are in a drought, residents should be mindful of its use and avoid waste. One tool that can help you with this is WaterWise, our free water monitoring service that keeps track of your water usage and can even do this

alerts you to hidden leaks and similar problems. To find out more, visit www.victoriawaterwise.com.

Residents can also save water by using modern equipment, repairing leaks, and not overwatering their gardens. If you’re trying to keep your soil moist to protect your foundation, just watering the edge of your home is enough.

We are all connected to the same river, and we can get through this drought if we all pay attention to our water use. If you see your neighbor running a sprinkler system in the middle of the day, remind them to do their part to conserve water in this dry weather.

To report a violation of drought restrictions, you can contact Public Works at 361-485-3380.

Ken Gill is an engineer/director of public works for the City of Victoria.