McKinney residents may soon be able to water their lawns twice a week and wash their cars at home.Monday night during its work session, the City Council was ready to make some changes to ease the Drought 3 water use restrictions that have been in place for months. At the urging of Hal Cranor, Executive Director of Public Works, the council decided to wait until Tuesday night’s regular council meeting to take action.Cranor will present a proposal Tuesday night. “What we’re proposing is a plan to keep with watering on trash day in the mornings, then four days later, you can water in the p.m. It would be a set schedule,” Cranor said. Mayor Bill Whitfield said he felt the public had been scared with the current restrictions as people rushed to water twice on their watering days and using more water than normal.
“After we put the restrictions in place, people were using more water than ever. North Texas water usage jumped 25 percent in 2006 from usage in 2005,” Whitfield said. “After all this rain, people expect us to be out of Drought 3 restrictions. In September and October, we could have to go back to Stage 3 restrictions, and people will accept that. But for now, they want out of these restrictions.”
A town hall meeting has been scheduled for June 21 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Faubion Middle School. Council members, however, insisted they would not wait until after this public session with North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) personnel to lift some of the restrictions. “I still want the town hall meeting to happen for education purposes,” Whitfield said. Mayor Pro Tem Brian Loughmiller is also in favor of modifying the restrictions, but said he wants to approach it from a position of conservation and education. “The education and conservation component needs to be there. A lot of people out there don’t understand about our water sources. They know about Lake Lavon, but they don’t know about our [secondary water] source staying seven to 10 feet low,” Loughmiller said. Water district Director Joe Joplin and board member Charles McKissick were also on-hand at the meeting to answer questions. “We’re not opposed to certain modifications as long as we keep to the idea of conservation,” Joplin said, explaining that state funding is effected for districts without conservation plans in place. Whitfield said people are tired of the premium being charged on usage over 10,000 gallons in a month, but Councilman Pete Huff thinks the premiums need to stay in place. According to Huff, NTMWD has no authority to enforce the Drought 3, but can make recommendations. “They can say what stage we’re in, but it is up to the city to define what the restrictions are within the stage,” Huff said, adding, “We can allow watering twice a week and let people wash their cars,but we need to keep the premium in place.” A water restriction vote will take place Tuesday night.
“After we put the restrictions in place, people were using more water than ever. North Texas water usage jumped 25 percent in 2006 from usage in 2005,” Whitfield said. “After all this rain, people expect us to be out of Drought 3 restrictions. In September and October, we could have to go back to Stage 3 restrictions, and people will accept that. But for now, they want out of these restrictions.”
A town hall meeting has been scheduled for June 21 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Faubion Middle School. Council members, however, insisted they would not wait until after this public session with North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) personnel to lift some of the restrictions. “I still want the town hall meeting to happen for education purposes,” Whitfield said. Mayor Pro Tem Brian Loughmiller is also in favor of modifying the restrictions, but said he wants to approach it from a position of conservation and education. “The education and conservation component needs to be there. A lot of people out there don’t understand about our water sources. They know about Lake Lavon, but they don’t know about our [secondary water] source staying seven to 10 feet low,” Loughmiller said. Water district Director Joe Joplin and board member Charles McKissick were also on-hand at the meeting to answer questions. “We’re not opposed to certain modifications as long as we keep to the idea of conservation,” Joplin said, explaining that state funding is effected for districts without conservation plans in place. Whitfield said people are tired of the premium being charged on usage over 10,000 gallons in a month, but Councilman Pete Huff thinks the premiums need to stay in place. According to Huff, NTMWD has no authority to enforce the Drought 3, but can make recommendations. “They can say what stage we’re in, but it is up to the city to define what the restrictions are within the stage,” Huff said, adding, “We can allow watering twice a week and let people wash their cars,but we need to keep the premium in place.” A water restriction vote will take place Tuesday night.
