Drought Declared: Buda and Kyle mandate water conservation measures

By Jen Biundo
for The Free Press

The Free Press/STPNS

June 26, 2008

• Original The Free Press/STPNS article: Drought Declared: Buda and Kyle mandate water conservation measures 

BUDA, Texas (STPNS) -- Last summer, Kyle firefighters braved the rushing Blanco River at Five-Mile Dam to undergo swift-water rescue training.

Today, that same rocky stretch of dry river bed is a prime treasure-hunting spot for metal-detector aficionados.

As Central Texas gears up for another scorched-earth summer, declarations of drought have begun to roll out from local water authorities and conservation districts.

This Monday, the Board of Directors of the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District (BS/EACD) declared an Alarm Stage Drought for the Barton Springs segment of the Edwards Aquifer, effective immediately.

That action triggered the city of Buda's declaration of stage two drought, which mandates water conservation measures such as only watering yards on designated days between the hours of 7 p.m.-10 a.m.

Buda workers began installing drought alert signs on Tuesday and will place a notice on utility bills mailed out this week.

Last Saturday, the first day of summer, the city of Kyle implemented Stage Two mandatory water restrictions.

Homes with odd-numbered addresses are permitted to water on Wednesday and/or Saturday. Even numbered addresses are permitted to water on Thursday and/or Sunday. Businesses and multi-family complexes are permitted water on Tuesday and/or Friday.

Watering is permitted on your designated day only during the hours before 10 am and after 7 pm. Automatic irrigation systems may only operated between the hours of Midnight and 10 am.

"We've seen a significant spike in water usage during the last week and we feel we need to move quickly to balance the load on our system and ensure that we don't get into a situation where people are all using water at the same time," said James Earp, Kyle Assistant City Manager. "We encourage all residents to do their part to conserve this valuable resource so we can continue to be good stewards of our environment."

Marianne Sutton, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said the area's three month weather outlook could be slightly above or slightly below average rainfall.

"When we do get rain it's going to be very hit and miss," Sutton said.

The BS/EACD's declared the most recent Alarm Stage Drought in January 2006, followed by a Critical Stage Drought declaration in October 2006, which lasted through early 2007. Heavy rainfall throughout the summer led to a number of drowning deaths at low water crossings and in area rivers. Dry conditions returned that fall and have persisted since last September.

"Around here it's either drought or flood," Sutton said.

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