Mineral Wells Council Votes To Prohibit All Outdoor Watering
MINERAL WELLS (CBSDFW.COM) - The sprinklers will soon be silenced. A desperately dry North Texas city is taking drastic steps to curb water use. Their latest action is the most drastic we've seen in the DFW area.
On Tuesday the Mineral Wells City Council imposed amended Stage 3 Water Restrictions, prohibiting all outdoor water use for residential and commercial customers.
A notice will be placed in water bills mailed out September 24 and on the city's website. The tighter restrictions go into effect October 1.
Pollard Creek, like all of the areas in Mineral Wells, is bone dry. The area in Palo Pinto and Parker counties has been arid for months.
But landscapes, creeks and ponds aren't the real problem – it's the lakes.
Dropping water levels at drought-stricken Lake Palo Pinto has the town scrambling to save water before it's all gone.
With just two watering days left, homeowner Joe Morgan knows his lush lawn may not a lost cause. "Gonna have to live with what we got."
But Morgan understands why the city of Mineral Wells is planning for a worse case scenario.
Morgan admits he's looking to a higher power for relief from the drought. "Our church has been praying for… a long time."
Lake Palo Pinto is at 14-percent and is home to more cows than fish these days. The lake is the main water supply for the city of Mineral Wells, and its 31,000 residents.
"Every drop is precious. We need it cant live without water," said local resident Dan Kirsch.
Kirsch, a licensed doctor, is trying to look past the new restrictions, further into the future. "We need to pipe in water. There's tremendous growth in North Texas."
The Mineral Wells Municipal Water District is looking at three proposals for supplying new water.
- build a water pipeline from Weatherford to this city
- tap in to lake mineral wells
- or install a chloride filtration system for the Brazos River
The plan is to break ground in November with construction completed by May.
In the mean time, city leaders say "it's going to take every citizen in this community to pull this off."
Homeowners will be expected to do more to help ease the drought running deep through the community. One man said jokingly, "You can't rely on Mother Nature. She just does what she wants to do."
The only exceptions to the outdoor watering ban will be for watering pets and livestock, previously approved construction projects and car wash businesses.
Anyone violating the Stage 3 Water Restrictions will not get a warning. They'll get a ticket, costing up to $500. City leaders say they are making the move because they want people to know how serious they are, and how serious the situation is.
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