Water restrictions imposed last month are exceeding goals in most areas of Brown County, but officials are still watching the Lake Brownwood levels drop rapidly with continued hot and dry weather.
“Our goal was to have a 6% on treated water reduction, and a 25% reduction on raw water,” said Dennis Spinks, General Manager of the Brown County Water Improvement District. “I think we have more that met that goal overall.” (see area water consumption totals below).
Spinks said that although the intended goal of the restrictions have been met, Lake Brownwood continues to drop with sustained hot temperatures and no rain.
“Lake level at this time, we are at 1412 (above mean sea level) which is 13 feet below spillway level. That is 47% of lake capacity,” Spinks said. “The lake is dropping one-tenth (of a foot) every 24 hours now.”
Spinks said that when the lake drops to 1410 msl, the district and its wholesale water customers will initiate Stage 3 water restrictions, which will call for stricter watering regulations. Spinks said that if the weather pattern does not change, Stage 3 would be implemented next month. Spinks said, “If nothing changes, the second or third week of August.”
Spinks also said that the 1410 msl level is significant because at maximum usage, that gives the area a one year safe water supply.
“At 1410 elevation, the district has still one year of maximum outtake of water which is 29,000 acre feet per year. If we pull the maximum amount we are permitted to use out of that lake, we have a one year safe supply of water left in the lake,” Spinks said. “Now thats 29,000 acre feet; we actually use about 15,000 acre feet. We have a very safe one year supply of water and a relatively safe 2 year supply of water left in that lake.”
These numbers will hold true only if the area receives no more appreciable rainfall during these time periods and outlines a worse-case scenario
Spinks released the following comparison chart of water use from area wholesale water providers.
Average 6-1 thru 6-15 7-1 thru 7-10 % increase or decrease
(million gallons)
Treated
Total 8.549 7.757 -9.3%
BWD 5.853 5.108 -12.7%
Bangs .369 .274 -25.7%
BSUD 2.328 2.375 +2.0%
Raw Water
Main Supply
from lake 23.01 16.12 -29.9%
Early 1.129 1.052 -6.8%
Irrigation 13.33 7.31 -45.0%
Goal is 6% on treated water and 25% on raw water.
