Stage 4 restrictions taken off table, for now

PLANO -- The North Texas Municipal Water District is still facing a severe water shortfall, but a plan to move into Stage 4 water restrictions has been delayed for several months at the request of the city of Plano.

Cities contracted with the district are currently under Stage 3 restrictions, under which the district advises watering only twice a month with no watering allowed between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Plano residents can find the days they are allowed to water by visiting the water department's page on the city website.

Discussion regarding entering Stage 4 was originally scheduled for late January, but that decision was delayed after the city of Plano offered an alternative plan. The district's board of directors is expected to approve the Plano plan at its meeting today. Stage 4 would prohibit all outdoor watering, as well as prohibit the irrigation of new landscaping, the washing of cars and the issuance of permits for new swimming pools.

While the situation is still dire, the area was given a brief reprieve this week when three to four inches of rain fell across Collin County. The rain resulted in Lake Lavon rising 3 1/2 feet from Tuesday to Thursday morning. However, the lake is still 9 1/2 feet low and only 64 percent full.

"We recommended that because we have had some rains and some progress made as far as the elevation of our reservoirs, that the district hold off on consideration of Stage 4 until May of this year," said Mark Israelson, the assistant city manager responsible for water usage. "We felt there had been enough progress and we had seen enough of a reduction from Plano that we felt like waiting until May to make that decision was something we could request."

Plano is the largest water consumer for any of the district's customers, purchasing 26.7 billion gallons of water per year. The city has also been one of the most efficient cities at saving water, achieving a 10 percent reduction in overall water usage from October to December 2011 compared to the same months in 2010.

Since Stage 3 restrictions went into effect in October, city employees have spent 314 hours patrolling the streets looking for water violations. First-time violators are given a written warning, something that has occurred 1,900 times. About 840 repeat violators have been ticketed, with 33 of the violators having their water shut off for repeatedly failing to comply with the restrictions. Israelson said the water restrictions have cost the city $31,700 so far, with most of the costs going toward getting the word out to residents via inserts in utility bills and signs placed around Plano.

Israelson said Plano adopted the twice-a-month watering model proposed by the district, while other cities such as Frisco and McKinney adopted a modified plan. McKinney and Frisco allow residents to water once a week, and have seen about a 10 percent increase in water usage from 2010 to 2011. The water district has not found an effective way to enforce its water restrictions, so cities that do not abide by the water recommendations face no fines or repercussions.

Israelson said since the numbers are based on total water usage, cities that are growing in population could see an increase in water usage regardless of what conservation efforts are in place. Other cities that have seen an increase in usage include Farmersville, Forney, Mesquite, Rockwall, Royse City and Wylie.

In addition to Lake Lavon, which has not been full since May 2010, the district also typically receives 28 percent of its water from Lake Texoma. However, zebra mussels have taken the lake offline. The district has applied for a permit to pump water from Texoma during the winter months when the water temperature is below 54 degrees and the mussels are not spawning, but that permit has not been approved by the Army Corps of Engineers.

There are plans in place to construct a pipeline from Texoma directly to the district's water treatment plant in Wylie, but the $270 million project would not be complete until 2013. The pipeline would allow Texoma's water supply to be used year round, since the zebra mussels would go directly from the lake to the treatment plant, where they can be removed. Currently, water from Texoma is transferred via creeks to Lavon.

In order to ensure the district has an adequate water supply for the next five months, Plano's plan has other recommendations to save water. The plan discourages all new landscaping and the irrigation of turf, but does allow the draining and refilling of pools to repair leaks and allows car washes to continue to operate.

Sports field owners are encouraged to comply with the restrictions, but the field conditions will be closely monitored to make sure unsafe playing conditions do not occur.

Finally, the city is asking the district to attempt to make sure all cities adopt the same Stage 4 watering restrictions if and when they are needed, to prevent the patchwork of restrictions that occurred in Stage 3.

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