HOUSTON, Texas — As the heat rages on, the City of Houston wants to remind residents that it is still under Stage One of its Drought Contingency Plan.
Houston actually entered Stage One in June of last year and it’s been in place ever since.
And while the measures are voluntary, the city is asking residents to limit outdoor watering to twice a week.
“Due to the recent heat waves, we are trying to remind the public that we are in Stage One of the Drought Contingency Plan and ways that they can help us save water and get out of Stage One," Houston Water Event Planning & Outreach Lead Lacie Ulrich said.
Those voluntary conservation efforts include limiting outdoor watering to twice a week between the hours of 7 p.m. and 5 a.m., with even-numbered addresses watering on Sundays and Thursdays and odd-numbered addresses watering on Saturdays and Wednesdays.
The city said the concern isn’t about the water supply.
“The City of Houston, the majority of our water comes from our 3 main lakes, Lake Conroe, Lake Livingston and Lake Houston. All three of those lakes are 93 to 98% full right now," Ulrich said.
Instead, the concern is what too much demand could do to our water pressure.
“During the summer months, when everybody is irrigating more, they’re lawns are dry. Everyone’s sprinkler systems are on. That’s when we’re pulling more water when we see more demand. So when we’re demanding more water and the treatment capacity is not able to keep up, that’s when we could see pressure issues," Ulrich said.
And in another effort to conserve, Houston Water made a presentation to the city council Thursday over their year-long campaign, 'Give Water a Break,' which urges people to think twice about how much water they use.
“It’s important for Houstonians to understand our future water challenges and how we can make a meaningful impact through water conservation," Ulrich said.
The city now extending the campaign into a second year.
Stage Two of the Drought Contingency Plan is when some of these conservation measures become mandatory, but the city is hopeful we will not have to move to that next level anytime soon.