By Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-523481.mp3
Dallas, TX – Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter: Across north Texas, lake & reservoir levels have dictated water rationing since the beginning of summer. At 11 feet below normal, Lake Lavon, 10 miles east of Plano, is the hardest hit. The North Texas Municipal Water District, which manages the lake's supply, imposed Stage 3 restrictions on member cities in Collin, Kaufman, Rockwall and Hunt counties. Residents must now limit watering to once a week, with no daytime water use from 10 to 6, & no hosing of sidewalks or cars. It's too soon to measure the results, says Jim Parks, director of the North Texas Municipal Water District, because restrictions have only been in place since June. But he's optimistic, based on early numbers
Jim Parks, Director, North Texas Municipal Water District: Our consumption ceased going up at that point and has leveled off
Zeeble; Plano, the largest member city in the North Texas Municipal Water district, has dramatically cut its water use, according Tom Whitten, Plano's Customer Utilities Services Manager
Tom Whitten, Plano Customer Utilities Services Manager: We've compared the amount of water pumped this year to last year, & now we're at about 17 percent down. At the end of month it'll be a little over 400 mill gallons/month. 17 percent is quite an achievement
Zeeble: Plano and other north Texas towns have had room to cut. 2003 statistics show Plano used 225 gallons per person a day, versus, say San Antonio, whose conservation efforts saw per capita use drop below one-hundred 50 gallons per person per day. The Plano effort has proven costly to some residents. Officials have issued 35 hundred water citations, more than any other city in the water district.
Sarah Zimmerman, ticketed Plano resident: I know it's a necessary evil, we must conserve, the lake levels are down.
Zeeble: Sarah Zimmerman's one of those paying a fine for watering on a non-designated day.
Zimmerman: But when I see golf courses green and parks green and school lawns green I'm just a little upset.
Zeeble: First-time violations in Plano carry about a hundred dollar price tag. Citations in other cities can max out at 2-thousand dollars. Even more flush with water now prohibit lawn watering between 10 am and 6 pm. University Park, whose water comes from the Dallas County-Park Cities Municipal Water District, easily passed its ordinance Tuesday . The town's Public Works Director, Bud Smallwood, wrote the ordinance & called it a no-brainer
Bud Smallwood, University Park Director, Public Works: We're trying to conserve the resource. I understand Farmers Branch did it last night, Highland Prak did it last week. Most cities are following the lead of Dallas, year before last in which they enacted the conservation ordinance.
Zeeble: Meanwhile, some towns, like Addison - which uses even more water than University Park or Plano on a per capita basis - have no restrictions yet. & cities hardest hit could yet see tougher water rules if there's no rain. For KERA 90.1 I'm Bill Zeeble
Bill Zeeble's email is bzeeble@kera.org