A breakdown of proposed changes to the city’s Water Management Plan was presented to Frisco City Council members during an April 2 work session meeting.

“Hopefully [the update] simplifies it for the customers,” Public Works Director Gabe Johnson said.

The breakdown

The biggest updates, which would change the city’s weekly irrigation sprinkler watering schedule and raise enforcement fees, could help Frisco manage its water consumption, Johnson said.

The sprinkler schedule would change from once or twice a week depending on the weather to a consistent schedule depending on the season, according to a meeting presentation.

Here is what that would look like:

• Summer: watering twice per week on regular trash day and additional day
• Fall: irrigation watering once per week on regular trash day
• Spring: irrigation watering once per week on regular trash day
• Winter: irrigation watering is prohibited

While more restrictive, the new schedule will mean less time to adjust the irrigation system each week, which may save water in the long run, Johnson said. The new policies would also only apply to the watering systems as there are no restrictions on hand-watering, Johnson said.

Diving deeper

The Water Management Plan is the city’s guideline to water usage and is updated every five years, Johnson said.

According to a meeting presentation, the plan strives to:

• Promote sustainable use and conservation of water resources to meet the city’s current needs without compromising future needs.
• Allow the city to be proactive with identifying and managing risks associated with water scarcity, quality and flooding.
• Ensure Frisco meets the minimum compliance standards for local, regional, state and national water laws and regulations.
• Identify where the city of Frisco can make improvements with water use as a whole and within water use categories of: residential, commercial, institutional and industrial.

Frisco’s standards are typically more aggressive than the recommendations, Johnson said.

Since its last update in 2019, Frisco’s population has grown, which has contributed to higher water consumption, according to a meeting presentation. Persistent drought conditions and record heat in the North Texas area are also factors, according to the presentation.

Frisco has consumed 1.5 billion more gallons of water in 2024 than in previous years, according to a meeting presentation.

The biggest water users are typically commercial and institutional buildings, not residential, Johnson said. Commercial buildings include hotels, restaurants and offices, and institutional buildings include schools, hospitals and public service buildings.

Going forward

Council is expected to discuss the updated plan again at an April 16 meeting.

Barring any major changes, the public works department will have until May 1 to submit the council-approved plan to the North Texas Municipal Water District, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Regional Planning Group C and the Texas Water Development Board.

“May 1 is our goal, but understand there may be some stuff that comes up and we have to pivot,” Johnson said.

Frisco residents will be able to send in input to public works staff from April 9-12, according to a meeting presentation.

“If we run into a bind, or we get a significant comment that changes something substantial, we could do a request to push [the May 1 deadline] back to help address the questions that came up from the public,” Johnson said.