Watering Restrictions Go Into Effect on April 1

It's no April Fool's Day Joke.  Strict Watering Restrictions go into effect on April 1st.

From the City of Lubbock website:
The City is not running out of water. We have a long-term supply of water. The City needs to implement Stage 2 of its Drought Contingency Plan as a precautionary measure due to two major factors. First, the City will have less water available through the summer months than it did last year due to Lake Meredith’s water supply being exhausted in 2011 and Lake Alan Henry’s water supply not becoming available until the end of 2012. The gap in water supplies results in less water available this summer to handle peak the water demand. Second, meteorologists predict we will have another hot, dry summer resulting in above average water demand. Water restrictions starting on April 1st, focus on reducing and spreading out landscape irrigation times. About 50% of our water use during the summer months goes to irrigate our landscape. These restrictions will remain in place until the Lake Alan Henry water supply is functional. Until that time, we are asking all customers to take extra steps to use less water."

Current Restrictions

 

The following restrictions shall apply:

 

Landscape irrigation may occur only between the hours of 6:00 p.m.–10:00 a.m. from April 1-Sept. 30.

 

Landscape irrigation is restricted to one day per week. Irrigation schedules will be based on the last digit of the address: 

• 1 – Tuesday
• 2 – Wednesday
• 3/4 – Thursday
• 5/6 – Friday
• 7/8 – Saturday
• 9/0 – Sunday

 For example, 110 Main Street will water on Sunday

 73 Pine Avenue will water on Thursday

 5616 122nd Street will water on Friday

 

Irrigation shall provide a maximum of 1.5 inches per zone per week.

 

Winter irrigation may only occur when temperatures are above 35°F so as not to cause a freezing hazard and shall provide a maximum of 1.0 inch per zone per month for dormant grasses (i.e., Bermuda) and 1.0 inch per zone every two weeks for cool season grasses (i.e., Fescue).

 

Irrigation shall occur without significant water runoff, which can be accomplished by correctly cycling the sprinkler system and allowing time for the water to soak into the landscape between irrigation events.

 

Water customers will refrain from or significantly limit aesthetic and non-essential water use. Water shall not be used to wash down hard surfaced areas, including without limitation, sidewalks, parking lots, gutters and patios. Water shall not be used for dust control. However, water may be used for road construction or to clean surfaces for painting.

 

Hand watering for landscape irrigation purposes is allowed on a daily basis regardless of the time of the year.

 

New plant material may be irrigated on a more frequent basis until the new plant material is established. For further instructions on this please call the Water Resources Deparment at (806) 775-3596.

 

To report a violation of these restrictions or to leave a complaint about water runoff, please call the Water Wasting Hotline at 806-775-3952. To request a rain gauge to help measure 1.5 inches of water for your lawn, email us at soffutt@mail.ci.lubbock.tx.us.