(NTMWD - April 25) The North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) Board of Directors has voted to initiate Stage 3 of the NTMWD Water Conservation and Drought Contingency and Water Emergency Response Plan effective June 1, 2013. The goal of Stage 3 is a 10% reduction in water use and increased awareness in ongoing water conservation efforts.
Under Stage 3, residential and business customers will be limited to landscape watering with sprinkler or irrigation systems once every seven days, if necessary. Check with your city for specific water restrictions.
“Our primary water supplies are below normal levels due to less than average rainfall, and projections indicate we will not get the rainfall we need going into this summer,” said Jim Parks, Executive Director of NTMWD. “We need to conserve the supplies we have and reduce our water use by at least 10%,” Parks added.
As of April 25, Lake Lavon’s elevation was down 7.7 feet. Lake Chapman, another NTMWD water source was down 7.9 feet. In addition, the water district still cannot use water from Lake Texoma due to the presence of invasive zebra mussels. Lake Texoma normally provides 28% of NTMWD’s total raw water supply. A new pipeline is being constructed to transport water to the Wylie water treatment plant but the first phase of that project will not be completed until January 2014.
“Thousands of gallons of water can be saved through proper irrigation practices. Overwatering our landscapes, not correcting broken or misaligned sprinkler heads is the largest waste of water outside the home. We urge all residents and business owners with automatic irrigation systems to have those systems evaluated and repaired by licensed irrigation specialists,” Parks added. “Inside the home, homeowners should also check and repair leaking toilets. A silent leak can waste hundreds of gallons of water a day. Using water efficiently extends our current available supplies.”
NTMWD is required by law to provide and update its state approved water plan every five years. Strategies in the 2012 State Water Plan for NTMWD include:
• Proposed Lower Bois d’Arc Creek Reservoir – 2020
• Additional Lake Texoma Supply – 2030
• Proposed Marvin Nichols Reservoir – 2030
• Toledo Bend Reservoir – 2050
• Oklahoma Supply – 2060
For additional details, view the