Did you know that this year's drought is not the worst one in Texas history? Check this out. As a direct result of the drought from the 1950s, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) was created. TCEQ requires all water suppliers to have drought contingency plans in place. These plans are staged according to the current conditions. We are in stage one (voluntary compliance) while Houston is in stage two (mandatory compliance) of their plan. Across the state, 418 water providers have mandatory restrictions and 268 have voluntary restrictions currently activated.
I tell you all this because at the September 20th meeting the Board will be revising our contingency plan. The current plan was written in 2007 and needs to be updated to reflect the current state of the District. For example, none of the Brunswick neighborhoods are mentioned in the existing plan. In addition, it's quite possible that the Board will take a vote on moving to stage two of our plan - mandatory compliance. You may have seen some of the signs around the neighborhood. TCEQ requires that when a drought contingency plan has been activated. If you've seen these signs you've probably noticed that there are strips hiding other information. Those strips will be removed when we go to stage two of our plan.
If you want to voice a concern about the contingency plan, please be sure to get to the 9/20/11 meeting at 11:30AM when Public Comments are entertained. If you want to see what the Board is doing to the current contingency plan, be prepared to stay through the rest of the meeting. Meetings are held at the office of Strawn & Richardson in the Frost Bank Building. This is near the corner of Bellaire and the West Loop South. The actual address is:
6750 West Loop South, Suite 250
Bellaire TX 77401
6750 West Loop South, Suite 250
Bellaire TX 77401
I thought it was mandatory already with fines possible. Is that not the case? Is half of my back yard dead already because I was told the wrong information?
ReplyDeleteI understood anyone using Houston water was already under a 2 x weekly restriction and we are now using Houston's water supply.
Does this mean all those people watering their lawns at other times have not received warnings and fines?
I'm sorry you were misinformed. We don't live in the city limits of Houston, but you are correct that we get 80% of our water from the the city of Houston. Typically, water providers who have such contracts with Houston follow their lead on enacting their drought contingency plans. That's why I think it's very likely that the Board will vote to go to Stage Two at the next meeting.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know no one within the District has been warned or received a fine for watering their lawns.