The city is preparing to enforce permanent year-round water restrictions starting July 1, even though water use so far this year has fallen to an all-time low five years old
Waco residents will be required to follow a three-day watering schedule as part of the city's water conservation and drought contingency plans approved by the Waco City Council in May.
The decision was based on the city's experience with a long drought that caused Lake Waco to steadily decline from fall 2021 to fall 2023.
Residents of surrounding cities may have to follow similar restrictions before the end of the summer, depending on their city's water contract with Waco.
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The three-day irrigation schedule prohibits the use of sprinklers between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. Outside the prohibited hours, odd-numbered addresses will be able to use the sprinklers on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Even addresses will be allowed on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. Sprinklers may not be used by Waco residents on Fridays.
Those who live in apartments, office complexes or other properties that contain multiple addresses will be identified by the lowest physical address of their building. Buildings without an address number are considered even addresses, according to the Waco Water Conservation Plan.
The watering restrictions make an exception for manual watering, either using a water hose with an automatic shutoff switch or a watering can, which will be allowed on all days when drought conditions are not present. Residents can also request a 60-day watering variance for new plants and landscaping.
Year-round watering restrictions based on addresses will begin in July.
Rod Aydelotte, Tribune-Herald
Violations of the new water restrictions can be reported through the MyWaco app or by calling 254-299-2489. Violations observed by city staff could result in fines of up to $2,000. Three or more violations within a 30-day period may result in termination of a customer's service. Service will be restored to a customer only upon payment of all penalties for which the violation was incurred and the service call rate established by the City of Waco rate schedule.
In drought conditions, the water restrictions would become more restrictive in four stages, depending on how far Lake Waco's level falls beyond its normal elevation of 462 feet above sea level.
- Stage 1, activated when the lake drops to 457 feet, would limit sprinklers to two days per week. Odd addresses would be allowed to water on Sunday and Thursday, while even addresses would be allowed on Wednesday and Saturday.
- Stage 2, activated at 452 feet of elevation, would have the same restrictions but would limit new landscape variances to 30 days.
- Stage 3, activated at 449 feet, would limit sprinklers, drip irrigation and hand watering to one day per week. Variations would no longer be allowed for new plantings.
- Stage 4, activated at 445 feet, would ban all outdoor irrigation and restrict water use only to activities the city deems necessary.
The lake has never dropped to the new level 3 or 4 since its expansion in 2003. The lowest level in that time period was 450 feet in October 2023, just before flooding upstream of the North River Bosque filled the lake for the first time after a two-year drought.
Under the new measures, heavy water users will be subject to higher rates of 10% to 50% when the city is at stage 2 or above.
The new water restrictions coincide with unexpectedly low water use in Waco for this time of year, according to data from the Waco Public Utilities Department.
Jessica Emmett Sellers, a spokeswoman for the public services department, said by email that the department would normally expect usage between 32 and 36 million gallons per day at this time of year, but daily usage currently ranges from the between 17.5 and 22 million gallons per day.
“The daily production numbers are still what we consider winter production numbers,” Sellers said.
The low water consumption is probably due to the record rainfall last month. Rainfall exceeding 15 inches made May the wettest month on record in Waco and raised Lake Waco by about 20 feet. The lake level remained 6.7 feet above normal Friday.
Water use in May was the lowest it has been in 12 years, Sellers said, but the utilities department expects higher use before the end of September.
“While this is always dependent on weather conditions, we anticipate higher usage before the end of September,” Sellers said. “As long as the rain continues, we will continue with winter production quantities.”
NOW WATCH: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers crews are getting a better look at flood damage at Corps-managed Lake Waco parks. No boat ramps have reopened, but officials expect at least some facilities to open in time for the Fourth of July.
Waco directly or indirectly provides water to 205,000 people in McLennan County. About 60,000 people are served through Waco's 12 wholesale customers, which include surrounding cities such as Bellmead, Hewitt, Lacy Lakeview, McGregor, Robinson, West and Woodway. Most of these customers supplement their own groundwater sources with City of Waco water when needed.
Residents of surrounding wholesale customer cities are not currently required to comply with the new water restrictions, but may be required to in the future, depending on the nature of their city's contract with Waco. Most wholesale water contracts have provisions that require those cities to meet or exceed Waco's drought and water conservation contingency plans, utility department officials said. This would include the water restrictions detailed in Waco's water conservation plan.
Wholesale customer cities have until Aug. 19, 90 days after Waco adopted the water conservation and drought contingency plans, to submit their own water plans. Woodway and Robinson are currently exempt from this requirement due to the unique nature of their contracts. Woodway, as part of a water exchange contract, must adhere to Bluebonnet Water Supply Corporation's plans instead of Waco's. Robinson's contract does not require the city to adhere to Waco's plans, but it does allow Waco to reduce the amount of water Robinson receives based on the percentage reduction goal Waco is trying to meet.
Spokesmen for the Hewitt, Woodway, Lacy Lakeview, Robinson and Bellmead water or utility departments said there were no current mandatory water restrictions in their city. There are also no current mandatory water restrictions posted for McGregor or West.
WATCH: After May set a record rainfall of 15.28 inches in Waco, the Brazos River in Waco was flowing at 10,000 cubic feet per second Monday afternoon at the U.S. Geological Survey monitoring station.
WATCH NOW: Flooded Lake Waco had dropped about 7 inches Thursday, after the dam began releasing water Wednesday morning. Still, flooded roads and lakeside parks could remain closed for months.
NOW WATCH: Recent rainfall has caused Lake Waco's water level to rise nearly 19.5 feet above normal. Officials say eight parks and one access point were closed due to flooding, although Bosque Park and the Waco Dam Access Point were not affected.
WATCH NOW: Waco saw more than three inches of rain Thursday morning, causing water levels in the Brazos River to rise above the downtown riverwalk and filling Lake Waco nearly four feet above normal .
