Stricter Water Restrictions May Come To Tarrant Co.
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ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - People like Jennifer McMillan have a growing awareness of water restrictions when they visit nurseries to plan their landscaping.
"Succulents," McMillan said. "That's all I can say is succulents. Because they're drought tolerant and it works for xeriscaping."
"More and more people are looking for things that they can plant and not have to do excess watering," said Evan Salituro of Redenta's Garden Shop in Arlington.
And those watering restrictions may get even tighter.
The Tarrant Regional Water District has told cities like Fort Worth, Arlington and Mansfield Stage 2 drought restrictions may be coming soon.
The restrictions would affect about 1.8 million people in and around Tarrant county.
Recent rains were helpful, but with lakes hovering around 60 percent of capacity, it was far from enough to recharge them.
If lakes drop below 60% by March first, tougher stage 2 water restrictions will begin.
That would mean once a week watering for most people, no watering between 10 am and 6 pm And it would mean tougher enforcement of rules against wasteful watering.
For many people like McMillan the looming, tougher drought restriction forces them to think differently about what's taking root in their backyard.
"It's more of an issue for my little ones," McMillan said. "They like to see the pretty flowers and that sort of thing. But I would rather be spending my time with them then trying to figure out whether or not the plants will work or how to keep them alive."
Water officials say the recent rain should be enough for dormant grass to survive until spring without watering which should help conserve water.
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