Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Staff seeks guidance to add intermediate drought stage; council signals support
Summary
Environmental staff proposed moving from a three‑stage to a four‑stage drought contingency plan to better align with wholesale suppliers; the new intermediate stage would limit landscape irrigation to every other week and adjust triggers and surcharges. Council expressed support and asked staff to return with an amending ordinance.
Kelsey Delgado, the city’s environmental program manager, led a workshop Dec. 5 proposing amendments to Fair Oaks Ranch’s drought contingency plan to better align the city with its wholesale water suppliers (GBRA and Trinity Glen Rose) and to add an intermediate response stage.
Delgado recommended a four-stage framework that inserts a new Stage 3 between the current Stage 2 and the current Stage 3 (which would become Stage 4 under the proposal). The proposed Stage 3 would allow landscape irrigation every other week, restrict power washing and limit drip irrigation to Monday/Wednesday/Friday; Stage 4 would impose stricter measures (drip irrigation once weekly, and further limits). Staff presented trigger levels tied to the city’s observation well averages (for example, proposed Stage 3 triggers at an observation well average of 10.25 feet for eight consecutive days) and daily groundwater consumption thresholds.
Delgado said the city has been in an extended drought and that many neighboring utilities have advanced their drought stages, prompting the staff recommendation. Council members asked whether the new Stage 3 would place the city into a more restrictive stage immediately (staff said likely not at present), clarified how the triggers were developed (historical observation well levels) and discussed implications for new landscaping permits and construction; staff said permits for new homes would still be allowed to ensure bank and closing requirements are met.
Council members expressed general support for the staged approach and asked staff to draft an amending ordinance for first and second reading, with public outreach and a delayed effective date similar to the 2023 amendment. No final ordinance was adopted at the workshop; staff will return with a redlined ordinance for council consideration.
