Brownwood News – Drought conditions are widespread across the state. Brown County Water Improvement District and the City of Early are experiencing mild drought conditions and encourages all citizens to help conserve precious water resources. 

 

 

The City of Early is a wholesale customer of the BCWID and are required to notify citizens when changes to the drought stages are made. Early’s city water system is under Stage 1 water-use restrictions as of June 21, 2018. This means that water use is restricted in the following ways as per our drought contingency plan: 

Voluntary compliance is requested from the citizens, for odd number addresses to limit outdoor watering on Monday and Thursdays and even number addresses water on Tuesday and Friday. The city also asks that there is no outdoor watering between the hours of 9AM and 7PM. At this time in the plan, compliance is voluntary. If the BCWID moves to stage 2 these restrictions will become mandatory. 

General Water Conservation Tips 

Customers are encouraged to reduce their water usage as much as possible. Try following a few of the following tips: 

  • About 50 percent of water used outdoors is wasted due to improper installation, maintenance, and use of watering systems. To make sure you get the most out of watering your lawn and garden, have your system inspected each year by a licensed irrigator to ensure proper operation. 
  • Install inexpensive faucet aerators to cut in half the amount of water used by each faucet. 
  • Check your faucets, and fix any leak you find. Faucet leaks can waste up to 3,000 gallons of water a year. 
  • Test your toilet for leaks; a leaking toilet can waste up to 73,000 gallons of water a year. To test, add a few drops of food coloring or a dye tablet to the water in the tank, but do not flush the toilet. Watch to see if the coloring appears in the bowl within a few minutes. If it does, the toilet has a silent leak that needs to be repaired. 
  • Look for water-efficient models when replacing plumbing fixtures or appliances. A water-efficient clothes washer uses 50 percent less water than a conventional model. Water-efficient plumbing fixtures can reduce water use by 25 to 60 percent. 

BCWID currently reports that at the current Lake level they are 76.1% full and have a volume of 100,031 ac.ft. This represents a 4 year supply of water without any rainfall.