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Boerne council approves first-reading updates to drought contingency ordinance to meet TCEQ requirements
Summary
On June 24 the City Council approved on first reading ordinance 2025-08 updating the city's conservation and drought contingency ordinance to add quantified triggers and reduction targets, designate a drought coordinator and add variance procedures as required by TCEQ and GBRA.
The Boerne City Council on June 24 voted 5-0 on the first reading of ordinance 2025-08, which updates the city’s conservation and emergency drought management ordinance (the drought contingency plan) to meet Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) requirements.
Utilities staff member Andrea Snoffer presented the update, describing the changes as largely regulatory housekeeping required for consistency with TCEQ and GBRA. The ordinance adds quantified trigger criteria for initiating and terminating drought stages, specifies percentage water-demand reduction targets for each stage, designates a drought coordinator and formalizes procedures for granting variances.
Snoffer told the council the city retained its existing water allocations and monthly distribution approach (one-twelfth of the annual commitment per month) and that the changes do not change the city’s actual annual allotment from GBRA. She said the utilities regulatory services administrator is designated in the ordinance as the drought coordinator.
In response to a question from Councilman Scott about whether the new trigger language would automatically move the city to a higher stage given current reservoir levels, Snoffer and other staff answered that the plan’s operational trigger is the city’s ability to meet demand with available production. The staff explanation emphasized that Boerne uses multiple potable sources and that the written triggers include qualifying language; staff stated the city will not advance drought stages solely because statewide numeric triggers are met if city production can meet demand.
Councilman Bunker moved and Councilman Willison seconded approval on first reading. The motion passed 5-0.
Why it matters: The ordinance update implements TCEQ-mandated plan features — triggers, reduction targets and variance procedures — and clarifies operational decision-making that ties drought-stage activation to local supply-and-demand conditions rather than a single lake-level metric. The changes are intended to ensure regulatory compliance and to provide clearer operational guidance during water shortages.
