New Braunfels City Council approved updates to the city’s drought contingency plan during a regular council meeting on Sept. 28.
The overview
The updates—which took effect Oct. 1—include stricter outdoor watering limits only as drought conditions worsen and clearer water-use reduction goals for each drought stage, according to a news release.
The plan includes an update to drought surcharges in Conservation Stages 3, 4 and 5 for New Braunfels Utilities, or NBU, customers using water above the applicable threshold, according to the release.
However, the drought surcharge is not new. The update aligns the surcharge thresholds with NBU's existing water-use tiers and aims to strengthen the conservation signal for customers using significant amounts of water, like for irrigation, during more severe drought conditions, according to an email from NBU Director of Enterprise Communications Reagan Peña.
About 73% of NBU customers would not be subject to drought surcharges under the updated plan. The drought surcharges are also not an increase to NBU's regular water rates, the release states.
The surcharge works to maintain the utility's financial stability during severe drought. As water use declines, revenue decreases, but the cost of operating and maintaining water systems stays the same, according to the email from Peña.
The surcharge does not generate profit and ends when drought conditions improve. Other utilities use drought surcharges. Depending on the water utility, similar approaches may be used during drought, seasonally or year-round, Peña's email states.
The impact
Residential customers who use water for normal household needs will generally be protected from drought surcharges. But customers who use additional water, such as for outdoor irrigation, will be subject to a surcharge in Conservation Stages 3, 4 and 5 if their monthly water use exceeds the surcharge threshold of 6,000 gallons, according to the release.
In Conservation Stage 3, water use above a 6,000-gallon threshold is subject to a surcharge of $4.18 per thousand gallons. In Conservation Stage 5, all irrigation water use is subject to a surcharge of $4.89 per thousand gallons, according to the release. NBU customers can monitor their monthly water use through the NBU customer portal and set thresholds to receive text alerts as they approach limits they establish.
For commercial customers, drought surcharges apply only to irrigation meters, not to separate domestic meters used for normal business operations. Commercial irrigation use that stays below the applicable thresholds will not be subject to a drought surcharge, the release states.
