By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
City officials will likely ask residents to restrict water usage further in the near future by
enacting Stage 3 drought contingency conditions, City Manager Shawna Burkhart said
today.
Burkhart made the announcement during a meeting of the Southwest Water Coalition at
Border Federal Credit Union. She said she had also spoken about the possibility of the
city initiating further restrictions on local water usage to a group of developers during a
round-table meeting on Thursday.
The Southwest Water Coalition is a group made up of citizen activists, business leaders,
elected officials and representatives of environmental organizations who came together to
address the area’s water issues and concerns.
Burkhart told the group, “We had a meeting yesterday with all our developers, and Greg
Velazquez, our public works director, advised that we are coming close to going into the
next stage (water) restriction, so if you’re concerned about that, please go on our website.
There is a comparison of what is allowed and not allowed.”
The city manager said the San Felipe Springs “are up a little from the rains,” but added
the springs’ flow “is expected to drop back down fairly quickly.”
“And so we believe we’ll be going into that next stage restriction,” Burkhart said.
Sandra Fuentes, co-chair of The Border Organization, one of the groups that founded the
coalition, asked what stage restrictions the city was currently under.
“We’re in Stage 2 now, and it will go into (Stage) 3,” Burkhart replied.
Burkhart said the decision to move to Stage 3 will be made by Velazquez based on
triggers delineated in the city’s drought contingency plan.
Several other coalition members asked about the developers’ meeting, and Burkhart said
it was simply a round-table discussion with members of the city’s planning and zoning
department.
“I just wanted to advise that we let them know and now we’re letting you know we may
be going into the next stage, Stage 3,” the city manager said.
The city has been under Stage 2 water restrictions for several years.
According to information released to The 830 Times by the city’s public information
office today, Stage 3 is considered “severe water conservation conditions.”
Stage 2 restrictions
All of the restrictions in Stage 2 still apply with the addition of the following restrictions:
• Outdoor water use is restricted to use of hand-held hoses equipped with a positive pistol
grip nozzle or other device that automatically shuts off water flow when the hose is not
being used or hand-held buckets. Outdoor water use may occur only between the hours of
6 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. on designated outdoor water use days. (This
schedule is included in the Stage 2 restrictions; see city graphic below.) The use of
permanently installed irrigation systems, drip irrigation systems and hose end irrigation is
prohibited.
• Utilizing a water source other than that provided by the water system is prohibited.
• The washing of automobiles, trucks, trailers, boats, airplanes and other types of mobile
equipment not occurring on the immediate premises of a commercial car wash or a
commercial service station and not in the immediate interest of the public health, safety
and welfare are prohibited. The washing of such vehicles under public health and safety
situations may occur between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m.
• The filling, refilling or adding of potable water to swimming or wading pools is
prohibited.
• No new landscapes of any type may be installed.
• The use of water for construction purposes from designated fire hydrants under written
permission from the water system is prohibited.
Stage 3 triggers
According to the city’s drought contingency plan, triggers for initiating Stage 3
restrictions include the following:
• Maximum water levels in the Bedell (Avenue) Storage Reservoirs decrease over five
consecutive days, or
• Water levels in the Bedell (Avenue) Storage Reservoirs are less than 20 feet at any
given time, or
• San Felipe Spring flows fall below 15.0 MGD (million gallons per day)(0.657 cubic
meters per second), or
• Average daily water consumption reaches 90 percent of production of the safe design
capacity of the water system (16.38 MGD), or
• Consumption (90 percent) has existed for a period of three days.
• The utility will reduce the average daily water consumption by 10 percent or 0.828
million gallons per day (MGD), or
• The utility will reduce the average GPCD (gallons per capita per day) by 3 percent or
4.05 GPCD.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
