WICHITA FALLS, Texas - The Wichita Falls Water Resource Commission is currently working on a proposal to submit to the Wichita Falls City Council for a permanent water use ordinance scheduled to be voted on later this year. The proposed ordinance in this city located about 140 miles northwest of Dallas would set rules on water use as an effort to conserve area water resources in the event of an extended period of drought, such as the one that occurred throughout Texas last summer.
According to a report in the Times Record News, the commission - which provides research and reports to help council decide the best course of action - is currently going through the proposal revision process and has removed a couple of initial specifications that could have negatively impacted the lawn and landscape industry. First, the commission removed an item that would have limited outdoor irrigation to two days per week. Second, the commission removed an item banning the sale or planting of St. Augustine grass within city limits.
City council decided move forward on the ordinance as a result of lake levels for the area dropping to about 35 percent capacity last year. The drought conditions and subsequent watering limitations - limited to one day of watering per week for a while - enacted by the council greatly reduced irrigation system sales and installations. Matt Hardon, assistant manager for wholesale irrigation supplier Water Works of North Texas, said, "We were on a bad lake level going into last irrigation season, and we didn’t have any rain almost all of last year. Basically everybody was in limbo. Nobody wanted to buy a sprinkler system if they weren’t going to be able to use them."
With lake levels back to about 85 percent, according to the Wichita Falls Public Utilities Department (PUD), all water restrictions are currently lifted and the sense of urgency to conserve water has subsided. However, the Water Resource Commission continues to work on the permanent water use proposal to submit to council. It is expected to be voted on by council in June.
The commission did keep several items in the draft proposal, according to the Times Record News, including a permanent ban on outdoor irrigating from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. any day of the week. It also saved a provision that requires hand-held hoses to have a shut off nozzle and forbids restaurants from serving water unless a customer requests it.
The author is Internet Editor of Lawn & Landscape Online.