The restrictions come after a mandate by the Lower Colorado River Authority board to conserve water until ongoing drought conditions ease.
What residents need to know
Residents served by the West Travis County Public Utilities Agency will follow an outdoor watering schedule to ensure use is spread evenly throughout the week.
The following schedule allows for watering from 6-10 a.m. and 7-10 p.m. on designated days:
- Monday: addresses ending in 1 and 3
- Tuesday: addresses ending in 2 and 4
- Wednesday: addresses ending in 5 and 7
- Thursday: addresses ending in 6 and 8
- Friday: addresses ending in 9 and 0
- Saturday: commercial and HOA addresses
- Sunday: no watering allowed
Home and business owners who do not follow the restrictions could receive a fine, according to the WTCPUA website.
Zooming out
The combined storage in lakes Buchanan and Travis, which supply reservoirs in the Highland Lakes, is at 42% capacity, according to an April 17 report by the LCRA.
The mandate specifies its Central Texas customers can initiate once-per-week watering restrictions as long as the combined capacity remains below 45%.
“Our reservoirs are stressed, and we need to do everything we can to preserve our supplies through this drought,” said John Hofmann, LCRA executive vice president of water, in a news release. “We can’t make it rain; we can’t increase the amount of water flowing into the lakes; and we can’t stop evaporation, which takes more water from the Highland Lakes every year than any single customer. What we can do is limit how much water we use, and that is what we’re doing here.”
Learn more
A complete map of WTCPUA service areas and tips on how to create a drought-resistant lawn can be found on the agency's website.
