Friday April 10, 2009 - 3 PM - STAGE 1
Today Stage 1 water restrictions have been enacted by SAWS and city officials. Because of our drought, I think I knew this day would come, but I had hoped we would hang in there. As of today the reading at the J-17 monitoring well (near Ft. Sam Houston) for the Edwards Aquifer dipped below 660.0 feet above sea level (it dropped to 659.6 feet above sea level) and triggered the restrictions.
Once the Stage 1 water restrictions have been put into place, we will remain in them for a minimum of 30 days. If the Edwards Aquifer rises this weekend with the predicted rain, we will still need to maintain a level of 660.0 feet for 30 consecutive days in order for them to be listed. Stage 2 water restrictions begin when the Aquifer falls below 650.0 feet above sea level.
What are the restrictions?
- No watering of lawns/plants on weekends.
- One day per week watering for all households.
- All watering to be done before 10 AM or after 8 PM.
- Hand watering with a watering can or hose is still permitted - any day at any time.
- Washing of vehicles is allowed at home on your scheduled day/time only. (You can still use the car wash.)
- All non-public swimming pools must have 25% of their surface area covered with evaporation screens when not in use.
- During those times and based on the schedule for your address (see below) irrigation systems and sprinklers are allowed.
- The schedule for watering is based on the last number in your street address:
- 0 or 1 – Monday
- 2 or 3 – Tuesday
- 4 or 5 – Wednesday
- 6 or 7 – Thursday
- 8 or 9 – Friday
For more information on water restrictions, visit the San Antonio Water System's Water Restriction website.
photo courtesy of JoelDeluxe
All content ©2008-2010 by Matt Stigliano unless otherwise noted.
Matt Stigliano, Realtor® Becker Properties | (210) 646-HOME | www.RErockstar.com
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Matt, as the population grows I have a feeling that only landscaping that can be sustained without "extra" watering will be allowed----lawns that are not brown will no longer look "right":)
I need to remember.....Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday. NOT FUN!
Charles - Does allowing my grass to die during the drought make me "forward thinking?"
Kristin - Or hose, hose, hose.
Matt, people will think you have a crystal ball or something.
Charles - We all have our secrets.
Yikes, Matt! Sorry to hear it's gotten that bad around there. That really sucks. Better get out the peyote and do the rain dance again. ;-)
Time for a Rain Dance perhaps? I remember Water restrictions in Florida. I was always confused when to do stuff.
Randy - I'm actually surprised it took this long. The drought has been going on for quite some time. We did get hammered with rain this morning (although I slept through it like a baby), so it will help. The hard part is convincing people that just because we had rain, it doesn't mean we're out of the woods.
James - Randy does all the official rain dances for San Antonio (despite his residency in Phoenix) - care to join him? After I wrote the post, I was out running errands and saw three different sets of sprinklers running and flooding the streets with wasted water. I wrote the post in the hopes that maybe I could get one or two more people to remember the restrictions.