The City of Georgetown is prohibiting water customers from outdoor watering through at least Monday. This includes watering with an irrigation system or hose-end sprinkler.
The city said it has come close to using more water than is available multiple times over the past two weeks. It said eliminating outdoor water use is "critical" to keeping the city's water supply safe and to avoid customers having to boil water.
"We need every one of our water customers to immediately stop outdoor watering, at least through Monday," Georgetown Mayor Josh Schroeder said in a press release Friday. "Conserving water this weekend is critical to giving our system enough time to recover, so we can lift these temporary restrictions, but we won't know for sure until Monday."
City officials said the restrictions are part of the city's enforcement of "Stage 3" of its Drought Contingency Plan.
This means:
- No outdoor watering
- No splash pad or ornamental fountain operation (all city splash pads will be closed)
- No washing vehicles at home
- No commercial patio misters allowed outside of 4 p.m. — 8 p.m.
- No installation of sod or turf grass
- No filling of outdoor spas or hot tubs; pools, including city-maintained pools, will be allowed to remain open, as water use is minimal
Separately, Leander announced Friday it was limiting outdoor watering to hand-held hoses only. The city said it was trying to fix a pump failure on a barge in Lake Travis, and the restrictions would be in place until further notice.
Blanco moved to its highest stage of water emergency, asking residents to stop all unnecessary water use until further notice.