The city of Katy has entered stage 1 of its drought contingency plan, city officials announced Aug. 21.
The context
The four-stage contingency plan was created as a part of Katy’s water conservation plan to manage drought conditions and water emergencies as the city works to supply residents with clean drinking water that meets state standards, according to the city’s website.
Stage 1, or mild, aims to decrease residents’ water use by 5% based on water usage data over the last 12 months.
Zooming in
The first phase of the plan strives to raise public awareness of potential drought problems with residents encouraged to voluntarily reduce water usage, officials said.
Other initiatives include:
- Advising major water users and collaborate to decrease water consumption
- Increasing efforts on leak detection and repair
- Lessening “nonessential” government water use such as street cleaning, vehicle washing and operation of ornamental fountains.
- Reducing government water use for landscape irrigation
- Requesting residents decrease watering and/or irrigate landscape between 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. to 11:59 p.m.
- Reducing draining and refilling of swimming pools. However, water can be added to existing pools to replace losses from normal usage.
One last thing
Residents can find out more about the drought contingency plan and how to calculate their own water usage by visiting the city’s website.
