Monday's Internet Edition, May 12, 2008.
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Real Edwards Conservation and Reclamation District
At the last meeting of the Board of Directors of the Real Edwards Conservation and Reclamation District held on Wednesday Tuesday January 15th, 2008, I informed the Board that due to the lack of rain since early September and the extremely dry conditions along with the steady decline in flows of rivers and springs that it would be necessary to declare Edwards and Real Counties in a mild or Stage 1 drought. The District’s Drought Contingency Plan has four (4) stages ranging from Stage 1 thru Stage 4. During Stage 1, water users are reminded of the need to conserve and are asked to cut back on unneeded use of water. Municipal Systems are asked to review their Drought Plans and see if they should be implemented.
While the December Palmer Drought Indices still indicates the area to be above normal in rainfall, the Indices were looking at 2007 as a whole and as we are all aware there has been little to any rainfall since early September 2007.
With Spring coming and long range predictions not good for much needed rains, it appears that the dry spell may be with us for a while. The District will continually monitor conditions to see when or if there is a need to initiate Stage 2 of the Drought Plan. Within the next few days letters will be going out to all permit holders and municipal water suppliers asking them to review their plans and to look for ways to conserve water. The general public will be informed through news articles such as this one and will be asked to conserve as well.
Unless we get decent rains going into Spring, it is likely the District will move to Stage 2 of the plan. However, that action can be postponed for a while by simply cutting back on the amount of water we waste. Some tips for prevention of waste and water conservation are listed below.
Fix the leaky faucets or the overflowing stock troughs.
Save water and energy by cutting down the time you spend in the shower. It is amazing that if you cut a ten minute shower to five minutes even with a 7 gpm shower head you can save approximately 12, 775 gallons of water a year and if you switched from a 7 gpm to a 2.5 gpm showerhead and switched from a ten minute to a five minute shower you could save approximately 21,000 gallons per year. Now, think about not only the water savings but the energy you would save as well. If everyone in both Edwards and Real County would use low flow showers and limit themselves to no more than five minutes, we could conserve 125,925,000 gallons of water… Now that is a pretty good chunk of water.
Look for broken pipes and fix all leaks as soon as possible
Make sure the washing machine is set to the correct load size.
Do your part and be water smart.
For more information on the District’s Drought Contingency Plan or on water conserving tips, please contact Lee Sweeten or Stephen Smith at the District’s office at (830) 234-3158 or email lsweeten@swtexas.net.