(A) The City Manager or his or her designee shall monitor water supply and/or demand conditions on a daily basis and shall determine when conditions warrant initiation or termination of each stage of the plan. Public notification of these initiation or termination of drought response stages shall be by means of the city website, local newspaper, and billing inserts.
(B) The triggering criteria described below on are based on pervious experiences in drought conditions in the city. Since the city has experienced significant growth, there is a need to establish drought contingency measurements to protect the city water supplies as well as meet the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality's regulations. The following triggering criteria have been established from experience of minor to moderate drought conditions. These measures, coupled with the contract with Rockett S.U.D., enables the city to maintain an adequate supply of water during times of drought.
(C) Stage triggering criteria.
(1) Stage 0 - Normal water conditions. Water demand is 450,000 gallons per day or less.
(2) Stage 1- Mild water shortage conditions.
(a) Requirement for initiation. Water demand is more than 450,000 gallons per day for three consecutive days. Customer shall be requested to voluntarily conserve water and reduce non-essential use of water as described in § 50.136. The city will provide public education of conservation tips and information through information placed on city's website, Nixel, and handouts.
(b) Termination of Stage 1. Stage 1 of this plan may be rescinded when water demand falls below 450,000 gallons a day for three consecutive days. Upon termination of Stage 1, Stage 0 becomes effective.
(3) Stage 2 - Moderate water shortage condition.
(a) Requirement for initiation. Water demand is in excess of 550,000 gallons per day for three consecutive days. Customer shall be required to comply with requirement of mandatory limits on all lawn and landscape watering which will be restricted to Wednesday and Saturday only; provided however, that the City Manager or his or her designee after notice on the city's website and Nixel or other methods deemed appropriate, may change the days. Non-essential water uses shall be prohibited except for division (1) of the definition of “non-essential water uses” in § 50.136. Items listed in letter (a) shall comply with mandatory watering limits in this stage.
(b) Termination of Stage 2. Stage 2 of this plan may be rescinded when water demand falls below 550,000 gallons a day for three consecutive days. Upon termination of Stage 2, Stage 1 becomes effective.
(4) Stage 3 - Severe water shortage condition.
(a) Requirement for initiation. Water demand is in excess of 650,000 gallons per day for three consecutive days. Strengthen mandatory water restrictions to specified days: Saturday only from 4:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.; provided, however, that the City Manager or his or her designee after notice on the city's website and Nixel or other methods deemed appropriate, may add an additional day and hours, being Wednesday 4:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Above prohibitions shall apply as in Stage 1 and Stage 2. All commercial and industrial accounts must submit a detailed water conservation plan to the city for consideration and approval.
(b) Termination of Stage 3. Stage 3 of this plan may be rescinded when water demand falls below 650,000 gallons a day for three consecutive days. Upon termination of Stage 3, Stage 2 becomes effective.
(5) Stage 4 - Severe water shortage condition.
(a) Requirement for initiation. Water demand is in excess of 750,000 gallons per day for three consecutive days. Strengthen mandatory water restrictions, including no watering of residential and commercial lawns and landscapes.
(b) Termination of Stage 4. Stage 4 of this plan may be rescinded when water demand falls below 650,000 gallons a day for three consecutive days. Upon termination of Stage 4, Stage 3 becomes effective.
(6) Stage 5 - Emergency water outage conditions.
(a) Requirement for initiation.
1. Customer shall be required to comply with the requirements and restrictions for Stage 5 of this plan when the City Manager or his or her designee determines that a water supply emergency exists based on:
a. Major water line breaks, or pump or system failures occur, which cause unprecedented loss of capability to provide water service; or
b. Natural or manmade contamination of the water supply source(s).
(2) Customers shall discontinue all non-essential and landscape irrigation water use until the evaluation of the impact and expected duration of the emergency water outage is completed, upon determination, the City Manager, or his or her designee, will notify customer by the city's website and Nixel or other methods deemed appropriate, of the water restrictions and the duration of such restrictions.
(b) Termination of Stage 5. Stage 5 of this plan may be rescinded when all conditions listed as a triggering events have been ceased to exist for a period of 24 hours.
(7) All provisions of each stage are carried over to the next higher number stage, unless amended by the higher number stage provisions.
(Ord. O-21-940, passed 8-23-2021)