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The Gibbs Team

512-431-2403

Water Restrictions

September 3, 2014 By Mary Lynne Gibbs

Drought Update

iphone pics 486At the August 20th Lower Colorado River Authority Board Meeting, a vote was set for the September 17th meeting to revise its application to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to amend its current Water Management Plan due to the drought that is currently in its six year.

In the meantime, the LCRA staff is meeting with interested parties and stakeholders to consider adjustments that will:

  1. Maintain the combined storage to 600,000 feet.
  2. Add a 35,000 acre-foot per year demand associated with Corpus Christi’s Garwood water rights.
  3. Include a three-tier regime for interruptible agricultural customers that consider storage and inflow conditions, plus the use of a look-ahead test.

At this time, Lakes Travis and Buchanan which are our region’s water supply reservoirs that provide drinking water to more than a million people, water to industries, businesses and the environment hold about 706,371 acre-feet of water. These numbers indicate that the water levels are at 35% of capacity.

According to the LCRA, should the combined storage drop below 600,000 acre-feet, 30 percent of capacity, the LCRA Board would then issue a Drought Worse than the Drought of Record declaration, which in turn would then require cities, industries and other firm customers to reduce their water use by 20 percent, and would cut off all Highland Lakes water to interruptible customers.

This drop below 600,000 acre-feet is projected to happen at the earliest January 2015.

Since the drought began, LCRA has been working aggressively to conserve water and expand the water supply. In fact, the LCRA has discontinued Highland Lakes water to most interruptible agricultural customers for three years in a row with permission from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

In order to endure the present drought conditions and to be proactive, LCRA is 1) requiring its customers to limit lawn and landscape watering to once a week in the communities they serve, 2) pursuing a new reservoir in Wharton County, 3) drilling groundwater wells on its property in Bastrop County and 4) investigating other potential projects to add new water supplies.

Due to the extreme drought conditions, the Village of Briarcliff has recently enacted Stage 3A water restrictions.

These restrictions include:

  • Residential water schedule by water irrigation system or hose end sprinkler is acceptable one day a week from midnight to 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. to midnight.
  1. Odd addresses may water on Wednesday.
  2. Even addresses may water on Thursday.
  3. Commercial, multi-family and HOA may water on Friday.
  • Watering with a hand-held hose is allowed at any time.
  • Washing vehicles, house or sidewalks is prohibited.
  • Filling pools with potable water is prohibited.
  • Maintaining pool levels is allowed.
  • Outdoor water features are not allowed unless to maintain aquatic life.

Please review your neighborhood or city website to find out at what stage of water restrictions you are currently under. They are not all the same.

In case you are wondering how much rain would be needed to fill up our beloved lakes a KXAN article from May 28, 2014 reported that heavy rains of 3-6 inches are far from enough to bust the drought and assuming the soil absorbed the same amount each time, filling Lake Travis would need a similar amount of rain 17 times in a row. Moreover, Lake Buchanan would require 18 similar rain events to fill the lake.

If you or someone you know is interested in buying or selling real estate in the Austin area, please do not hesitate to contact Mary Lynne Gibbs at 512.431.2403 or austinluxurybroker@gmail.com. It would be an honor to earn your business.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Austin Area Drought, Austin Area Real Estate, Austin Real Estate, Drought, Highland Lakes, Lake Buchanan, Lake Travis, LCRA, Mary Lynne Gibbs, The Gibbs Team, Water Restrictions

May 28, 2014 By Mary Lynne Gibbs

Water Conservation

Even with the wet Memorial Day weekend we have had (some reports say Lake Travis is up a foot), Central Texas continues to experience dangerous drought conditions for the seventh year in a row.

According to the LCRA; Lakes Travis and Buchanan, which provide drinking water to more than a million people, and water to industries, businesses and the environment throughout the lower Colorado River basin, are currently only at 36 percent of capacity.

Clearly, water conservation is at a critical stage.

Therefore, the city of Lakeway has issued a moratorium on new swimming pool permits effective immediately.

A KVUE.com article quoted Devin Monk, Lakeway’s communication coordinator as saying that the city will review incoming permits on a case by case basis, but that the city is asking everyone to hold off on putting in a pool and consider the impact pools have on the water supply.

The article continued on to say that even though Lakeway doesn’t require permits for above ground pools, permission is necessary to fill them.

Pool permits will not be issued until the water supply returns to normal. Violators of this order could incur fines of up to $2,000 per day per infraction.

In addition to the pool permit moratorium, the West Travis County Public Utility Agency Board of Directors, meeting in Bee Cave on May 15, unanimously passed a 20 percent drought surcharge for both wholesale and retail customers across all rate classes effective July 2014.

In the BeeCaveBee, WTCPUA rate consultant Nelisa Heddin was quoted, “Residents have control over the net impact to them [of the surcharge] because they have control over their consumption.”

The report also stated that the surcharge affects only the volumetric rate—the portion of a residential bill that is based on consumption—and not the minimum rate.

Additionally, the Central Texas Water Coalition which was developed by the LCRA in May of 2010 to advocate and preserve the Highland Lakes role as an irreplaceable water source has expressed that the Lower Colorado River basin lacks the historical average of inflows and does not have adequate reserves to support the area during this continued drought.

Education and conservation are key to protecting our water resources.

According to the CTWC, water levels also have grave economic and fiscal impact. When Lake Travis water levels are below 660 feet, visitations decline and businesses diminish. Local government is affected as well with decreasing revenues from sales tax, hotel tax and alcohol sales.

With all of these added worries and restrictions, we thought it would be useful to provide the water conservation checklist found on the www.austintexas.gov that will help us preserve the water we do have and keep waste to a bare minimum.

INDOORS

  • Check your toilet for leaks. Put a few drops of food coloring in the tank. If it appears in the bowl without flushing, you have a leak that needs repair.
  • Replace older toilets with WaterSense® labeled high-efficiency models that use only 1.28 gallons per flush or consider installing a dual flush model that can use even less.
  • Take shorter showers—try for less than 5 minutes. If you take a bath, fill the tub half full.
  • Install water-saving aerators on your bathroom faucets and water-saving showerheads that use 2.5 gallons per minute or less.
  • Turn off the water while shaving, brushing your teeth, lathering in the shower, and shampooing or conditioning your hair.
  • Fix leaky or dripping faucets promptly. Plumbing leaks account for approximately 14 percent of water consumed in the home.
  • Run your dishwasher and clothes washer with only full loads. Scrape food from plates instead of rinsing them before washing.
  • Chill drinking water in the refrigerator instead of running the faucet to cool water.
  • Replace your clothes washer with a qualifying water-saving model.

OUTDOORS

  • Choose drought-tolerant plants when landscaping, and group plants with similar water needs together (hydrozoning). Add compost or mulch around trees and plants.
  • Thoroughly check your irrigation system each spring when you first turn it on and repair any leaks as soon as possible. Schedule a free irrigation system evaluation if needed.
  • Clean your driveway or sidewalk with a broom, not a hose.
  • Water your lawn only on your assigned day and adjust sprinklers so that only your lawn is being watered.
  • Install a rain barrel or rainwater harvesting system to capture rainwater from your roof for use on your landscape.

If you or someone you know is interested in real estate, please do not hesitate to contact Mary Lynne Gibbs at 512.431.2403 or austinluxurybroker@gmail.com. It would be an honor to earn your business.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Bee Caves, City of Bee Caves, City of Lakeway, Lake Buchanan, Lake Travis, Lakeway, LCRA, Mary Lynne Gibbs, The Gibbs Team, Water Restrictions

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