*Note: For those who have Crystal Clear Water as their supplier, Corridor News tried to pull their current restrictions off their website, but to no avail. We have tried off and on for several different times and days for over a month to access different pages on their site and we continually receive an error. We have contacted Crystal Clear about this issue and was informed that they were able to access and had no idea why we could not.
Thanks to generous spring rainfall, the City of San Marcos is returning to Stage 1 drought restrictions effective Sunday, May 24 at noon. The Edwards Aquifer Authority returned to Stage 1 on May 19.
“We hope the current wet weather pattern will stick around for a while, but we are also heading into a long hot summer so it’s essential that residents continue to conserve water,” said Tom Taggart, Executive Director of City of San Marcos Public Services.
Stage 1 drought rules restrict use of hose-end sprinklers to one day per week on a designated weekday before 10 am or after 8 p.m. Irrigation with automatic sprinkler irrigation systems is allowed once per week between the hours of 8 p.m. on the designated weekday and 8 a.m. on the following day. Hand watering and using soaker hoses or drip irrigation is allowed on any day at any time.
Stage 1 rules also limit at-home car washing and washing impervious surfaces to one day per week, and prohibit wasting water.
Stage 1 is implemented when the 10-day average Edwards Aquifer index well level falls below 660 feet above mean sea level (msl), or when it rises above the Stage 2 level of 650 feet above msl. On Wednesday, May 20 the 10 day average aquifer level was at 651.0 feet and the daily reading was 655 feet.
San Marcos has been in drought restrictions almost continuously since April 2011, and was in Stage 2 or higher for all of 2014. The City began 2014 in Stage 2 restrictions and progressed to Stage 3 in April. Dry conditions prompted the City to go to Stage 4 restrictions for the first time ever in August 2014. The City remained in Stage 4 for several months then returned to Stage 3 in November, followed by a return to Stage 2 in February.
Current aquifer levels and full text of the drought rules can be found on the City of San Marcos website at www.sanmarcostx.gov/drought.