On July 3, the City of McKinney suspended enforcement of most watering restrictions, including the water surcharge, in response to the North Texas Municipal Water District’s decision to move from Stage 3 of its Drought Contingency Plan to the Water Conservation Plan.

Existing, non-drought-related city ordinances that will remain in effect include:

No watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
No over-watering such that a constant stream of water overflows from the lawn onto driveways, sidewalks or streets.
No watering during rain.
Changes to the ordinance, which could include retaining the current twice-weekly watering schedule, will be discussed by Council in the near future.

“We still strongly encourage residents to water no more than two days a week,” said Hal Cranor, Executive Director of Public Works. “With the amount of rain we’ve had, there’s really no reason for anyone to have used their irrigation systems this spring. It’s our hope that the drought-related circumstances of 2006 reminded our residents that water is a finite resource and should be used responsibly at all times.”

The recent and continued rain events have provided the much needed relief to the drought conditions that have affected the NTMWD operating reservoir system. Since the beginning of 2007, Lake Lavon has returned to full capacity and Lake Jim Chapman/Cooper has gained 16+ feet and is currently at 89 percent of its capacity. As a result, NTMWD recommended moving from the Stage 3 Drought Contingency Plan to the Water Conservation Plan based on the following recent changes:
The three reservoirs utilized by NTMWD have all had significant gains in capacity - Lavon and Texoma are full and Chapman is 1.5’ low;
With the low water demands in recent months, NTMWD can stay within the State approved water rights for the remainder of 2007;
NTMWD has received correspondence from the TCEQ that the East Fork Raw Water Supply Project water rights permit is within days of being finalized and issued.