Primary watering days will change for about one-third of the Allen community beginning in January, Director of Engineering Chris Flanigan said.
Flanigan gave a presentation to members of Allen City Council and city staff outlining the watering schedule changes during a Nov. 10 work session.
The big picture
The city’s watering schedule has not changed since 2011, but the community’s population growth and new technology that can more accurately measure water usage led city staff to consider an update, Flanigan said.
“We're putting those existing sources of water under more and more strain, and so water conservation is more and more important in terms of one strategy to try to satisfy the demands of a growing region,” he said.
The changes to the citywide watering schedule exclude hand-held hoses, soaker hoses and drip zones, per Flanigan’s presentation.
“People can still take care of their foundations any time of day,” he said.
The specifics
Beginning in 2027, watering hours from April through October will shift from 6 p.m.-10 a.m. to 6 p.m.-7 a.m., per city documents. Residents will still be able to water their yards anytime on their primary watering day from November to March.
In addition, about one-third of households will have a different primary watering day.
During April-October, residents have the option of watering their yards on a second day of the week, per city documents. Secondary watering days are also changing to correspond with the updated watering schedule. Residents can find more information on the city's website.
“In the study that was done, the model predicts that if we have this reorganization of the community, we could save a million gallons per day on maximum daily demand,” Flanigan said.
This will be the last time the city changes its watering schedule, as the city has less than 8% of undeveloped land left and this new plan was created with buildout in mind, Flanigan said.
City officials will begin communicating these changes in December with the new watering schedule set to take effect in the new year, per city documents. Although there will not be an official watering ordinance, city staff will encourage residents to adhere to the new schedule, Flanigan said.
“We want to do our best to encourage compliance from the standpoint of doing what's right by the community and the resources available to us,” he said.
