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Coppell officials say irrigation limits and outreach cut purchased water by hundreds of millions of gallons
Summary
City staff reported that a 2024 irrigation ordinance — limiting summertime watering to two days per week plus education and free irrigation checks — coincided with a modelled reduction of tens to hundreds of millions of gallons in 2024–25, helping Coppell avoid requests for higher contracted capacity from Dallas Water Utilities.
Coppell staff told the City Council on March 10 that the city’s July 2024 irrigation ordinance, combined with outreach and free irrigation checks, substantially reduced peak water purchases during subsequent summers.
James, a city water analyst, presented modeled and observed data showing the city purchased nearly 2 billion gallons between May 1 and Sept. 30, 2023, and reached the contract limit of 18.5 million gallons per day on nine days that summer. After the ordinance (which limited irrigation to two days per week and emphasized education over enforcement), Coppell bought roughly 300 million gallons less in 2024 and 2025 compared with 2023, James said, and his calibrated model estimated that the ordinance reduced purchases by about 63 million gallons in 2024 and about 273 million gallons in 2025 compared with pre‑ordinance trends.
The modeling: staff explained they calibrated a baseline model using four prior years of data and adjusted for high‑temperature days and rainy days so the estimates isolate the ordinance’s likely effect. James told council the model can be updated daily with temperature data to monitor real‑time risk during future summers.
Complementary actions: the city contracted "Eminem Irrigation" to provide free irrigation checks (300 checks annually; staff reported roughly 400–500 checks completed to date), and offers notices to residents whose automatic irrigation runs outside the ordinance allowances. Staff emphasized the program’s light‑touch enforcement was intentional to allow residents time to acclimate.
Council questions and next steps: council members asked how long the ordinance might delay a needed increase in contracted supply; staff said many variables affect that horizon but estimated the ordinance could buy "at least five years" under plausible scenarios. Staff recommended continuing education and irrigation checks while keeping tougher enforcement as an option if compliance declines.
What the city did not decide tonight: staff framed the ordinance as a demand‑management tool and did not propose new fees, additional mandates or immediate capacity changes; monitoring will continue and staff will refine the model as new temperature and usage data arrive.
