San Antonio Area Hit With Restrictions on Water Use

For the first time since 2000, mild but mandatory water-use restrictions were imposed in this seven-county area of San Antonio beginning today as the Edwards Aquifer plummeted below the point that triggers forced conservation measures.

The ban on wasteful practices and limits on routine uses will be in place for at least a month under Wednesday's emergency declaration by the Edwards Aquifer Authority.

Initially, violators will receive a warning, but additional violations could bring a $100 fine.

Officials said they have little control over how much water enters the underground formation, but they can influence how much is removed by homeowners and businesses in Bexar and Medina counties and portions of Atascosa, Comal, Guadalupe, Hays and Caldwell counties.

The initial restrictions are "intended to curb use enough to where maybe we can keep the aquifer at a stable level until we get rainfall," says aquifer authority spokesman Roland Ruiz.

Residents may water their yards once a week but are barred from watering between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. The water system also requires private pools to have a minimum of 25 percent of the surface area covered with evaporation screens when not in use.

Washing impervious cover such as parking lots, driveways, streets or sidewalks is prohibited; residential washing of vehicles is allowed only on assigned days and times; and operation of aesthetic water features outdoors or indoors is prohibited.

If the aquifer level drops further, limits on hand-held hose watering would be one of the next conservation measures ordered.