Council Considers Amendments To City Code Aimed Toward Water Conservation

Staff Reports

The San Marcos City Council will consider amendments to the San Marcos City Code, which will implement new requirements for future developments.

An amendment to section 14.126 of the San Marcos City Code concerning Landscaping Irrigation Systems to require separate irrigation meters in new developments.

According to the agenda, the Sustainability Committee, City Council, and Planning and Zoning Commission have received information from staff regarding potential water conservation enhancements by requiring separate irrigation system water meters in new developments.

The agenda states that “irrigation use of water for lawns and landscaping compromises more than half of total seasonal water use and represents a major opportunity for water savings going forward.”

The proposed ordinance would change current requirements for new single-family residential properties; the requirement was previously adopted in 2006 for commercial and multi-family services.

This change will enable accurate metering of water used by automatic irrigation systems.

Existing residential customers would be grandfathered and no retrofits would be required by these changes.

The city council is also slated to hold a public hearing and receive comments regarding amendments to sections 7.2.4.1 and 7.2.4.2 and Chapter 8, Article 1 of the city’s development code.

The proposed ordinance would limit the amount of irrigated turfgrass that can be installed to 50% of the landscaped area in new single-family residential properties and 25% of all other new developments.

According to the agenda, the 25% limitation is currently a recommendation in the ordinance and the change simply requires that limit.

The proposed changes would also require the use of drought-tolerant turfgrass species and minimum soil depths, which are currently recommendations in the LDC.

The city of San Marcos postponed the city council’s work session and regular meeting until Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 6:00 PM.

The meeting agenda is expected to be posted no later than Friday, Feb. 19.