The Brownwood City Council and the Brown County Water Improvement District #1 (BCWID) each planned on implementing tighter water restriction at their respective meetings on Tuesday, but with the weekend rain that passed through Central Texas, both entities are keeping the current restrictions in place for now.
“In don’t think there is any action that needs to be taken tonight,” said BCWID General Manager Dennis Spinks. “In analyzing the elevation of the lake, we have gained 1.6 feet rise in elevation on the lake which is equivalent to a minimum of 4 months’ supply. We could stretch it out to a 6 months’ supply if our customers will continue in conserving the water.”
Brownwood City Manager Bobby Rountree made a similar recommendation to the Brownwood City Council taking into consideration the rainfall and the current weather conditions, but also asked residents to be mindful of the current watering schedule.
“It is not as critical and we don’t want to confuse the residents with one-time per week watering. We recognize that the daylight hours are getting shorter, the weather is getting cooler, things have stopped growing; that is why we are recommending not to make the change at this time,” Rountree told the council. “We do want the public to know that our Stage 3 plan is still in effect and they still must water only on the days that are designated and we encourage them to conserve water.”
Spinks said that water usage since the 5”-8” reported rainfall in the county has dropped to extremely low levels.
“We are down to only 3.6 million gallons of usage at the plant,” Spinks said. “That is about as low as we ever see; I don’t think we can get much lower than that. I am always looking at pumping 16 million gallons per day through the pump station at the lake and it goes down to 4 million gallons a day; that is a big difference.”
Both BCWID and the City of Brownwood cautioned that tougher water restriction could still be implemented in the coming months if more rainfall doesn’t come this way and if area residents do not conserve water now.
“If it does get dryer, we will want to look again at the next board meeting if water usage goes up and the forecast still says there is not sufficient rain in the forecast, we may want to look at going to more severe restrictions,” Spinks said. “For the time being, I would recommend that we stay where we are at, and again stressing to the public to conserve water.”
The City of Brownwood is even looking at alternate sources of water if drought conditions do not improve.
“We have looked at the possibility of recycling water from our wastewater,” Rountree said. “We have talked with an engineer at one time. Currently, we treat and release down the Pecan Bayou anywhere from 2.1 million gallons to 2.5 million gallons per day, and during the winter months, the city will average using about 2.5 to 3.1 million gallons per day.”
Rountree said that a reverse osmosis treatment system would make the water drinkable after it went through the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
“It’s mental I think as far as wanting to drink that water, but by the time you treat it with reverse osmosis, it is as clean and pure as any water that you drink,” Rountree said. “We are not suggesting we do that now.”
Rountree said that it would cost the city between $3-$5 million for the required reverse osmosis treatment plant. The system could also be used to treat water from old sulfur springs in Brownwood that were capped off years ago. Rountree said that an engineer will have to determine if these are feasible options for the city if the drought continues.
“There are some options that we have in regards to our water, but again at this time with the great rain we got this weekend, we recommend putting more restrictions on hold, but just be prepared,” Rountree said.
Spinks was also concerned that more restrictions at this time might have a negative impact on the water district and local water providers’ budgets.
“Any restrictions we put on this, we are trying to conserve water but you have to look at the district funds its budget through water sales,” Spinks said. “All of our wholesale customers, their normal budget is funded through water sales – even the city of Early, the City of Brownwood – a portion of their budget is funded through water sales. If you reduce those sales, then you are reducing the income where the budget has already been set so they may not meet their budgeted revenue, but sometimes it has to be that way.”
Spinks said that the district will keep a close eye on the weather and the current water situation and will not hesitate to implement more water restrictions if needed.
“If we want to continue to have water next summer, we may have to bite the bullet and do it,” Spinks said.
