San Marcos residents may see loosened watering restrictions in the near future after a citizens advisory boards January recommendation that the city ease rules related to at-home car washing, watering plants and filling swimming pools. The Citizens Utility Advisory Board, which is responsible for making recommendations regarding the city's utility services and rates, wrote a letter to City Council that was presented at a Jan. 12 water conservation workshop. "Presently our city's leadership has placed us in an enviable situation to have adequate supplies of water today and for decades to come," the advisory board wrote in the letter. "This investment has been made by the water utility for the benefit of, but also at the expense of, current ratepayers. On the basis of this consideration and current supplies it is our belief that a moderate loosening of some of the current restrictions be allowed." The board recommended the city loosen some of its restrictions during the current Stage 3 drought level. Those loosened restrictions include allowing at-home car washing once per week, allowing swimming pools to be filled and allowing usage of outdoor water features, all of which are currently prohibited in Stage 3. The board also recommended the city implement a tiered rate system that penalized the city's heaviest water users. City Council will consider the recommendations at a future meeting. According to a presentation from city officials, the city's water supply should be able to last through the next 50 years if anticipated supplies through the Hays-Caldwell Public Utility Agency come online as scheduled. Conservation In response to the ongoing drought, the city of San Marcos has put an emphasis on conservation techniques. According to city staff, between 2003 and 2013 water usage per capita a measure of the water used per city resident for residential and commercial applications decreased from 140 gallons per day to 117 gallons. The city offers rebates and incentives for utility customers who purchase high-efficiency toilets and washing machines as well as rainwater collection systems. A $20 million project under design will expand the city's ability to reuse nonpotable water for irrigation and cooling power generators. "[The project will] extend our reclaimed water system both to the core city areas for park use as well as some use for Texas State University," said Tom Taggart, executive director of public services. "That's expected to save a lot of potable water thats currently being used for [irrigation and cooling]." A 2014 county proposal would have incentivized installation of rainwater collection systems on residences throughout the county. The idea was met with favor by the commissioners court, but Precinct 4 Commissioner Ray Whisenant said he later received many negative comments from constituents who did not feel it was the county's place to use taxpayers money for such incentives. Under the proposal the county would have been able to issue up to $100,000 of loans annually for rainwater systems. Residents would have repaid the loans over a period of up to 10 years. That project has been put on hold because of the negative feedback. "There may still be an opportunity [to create an incentive program], but until we get back some better rainfall its not going to be very productive," Whisenant said. "I had mixed reviews for it. ... But that doesn't mean we wont try again." Outlook Dianne Wassenich, program director of the San Marcos River Foundation, said the city's habitat conservation plan includes programs to shore up the city's water supply, but because implementation of the plan began in the middle of a drought, those supplies have not been replenished. "Here we are in a drought, and were facing Stage 5 [drought conditions] this summer, so were all pretty worried," Wassenich said. In 2014, San Marcos withdrew 93 percent of its water from Canyon Lake and seven percent from the Edwards Aquifer. "Thats consistent with the city's long-term goal and the reason we entered the contracts and made the move toward surface water," Taggart said. "Water we don't withdraw for use helps benefit spring flow."