AUSTIN, Texas — Georgetown is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, and leaders are making changes when it comes to water usage in an effort to conserve water.
This City has introduced new ordinances for water conservation, effective immediately. This comes as the state requires cities to update their drought contingency plan every five years.
Part of the changes now require Georgetown residents to only use water for gardening and landscaping from 12 a.m. until 7 a.m., and then again from 7 p.m. until 12 a.m.
This move will affect automatic irrigation systems, soaker hoses and sprinklers. There will be no watering done on Mondays, and there are certain days residents can water plants based on their address.
However, hand watering is still allowed during the day, any day of the week.
Chelsea Solomon, Georgetown’s water utilities director, said there have been cases where people were overusing water.
"I think if we can get people on the right day and the right times, it will save a significant amount of water," Solomon said.
Solomon said that while they do have enough water now, lower levels at Lake Georgetown and Lake Stillhouse – spots where 90% of the city's water comes from – mean it's important to conserve.
Tommy Walters has lived in Georgetown since 2003. He said he keeps his watering to a minimum and does not have an irrigation system, but he still tries to conserve his water and says other people should too.
"I water about every three weeks, but I use soaker hoses," Walters said.
Also as part of the ordinance, developers, builders and irrigation system installers will now be required to provide instructions on the irrigation system's design and how it works.
Boomtown is KVUE's series covering the explosive growth in Central Texas. For more Boomtown stories, head to KVUE.com/Boomtown.