AUSTIN, Texas — Beginning Monday, Aug. 21, the City of Hutto shifted into the third stage of its water conservation efforts.
The efforts, which are being done to mitigate what the City is calling a "severe drought," apply to all water customers in Hutto, including residential, commercial, institutional and industrial users.
Industrial, commercial and institutional customers may only water outdoors on Wednesdays.
Outdoor watering may only occur on one day per week, according to street address as follows:
- Residential addresses ending in 0 or 1 may water outdoors only on Mondays
- Residential addresses ending in 2 or 3 may water outdoors only on Tuesdays
- Residential addresses ending in 4 or 5 may water outdoors only on Thursdays
- Residential addresses ending in 6 or 7 may water outdoors only on Fridays
- Residential addresses ending in 8 or 9 may water outdoors only on Saturdays
Outdoor watering can only occur between 8 p.m. and 10 a.m. on designated days, effectively meaning sprinkler use can only be legally done at night or in the early morning hours.
Washing vehicles is not allowed. The City said commercial carwash facilities are exempt from this rule only if they use a water recycling system.
Other effects of Stage 3 are previous Stage 2 restrictions and include restaurants not being allowed to serve water unless requested by a customer, fountains and aesthetic pond-water features cannot be used and water cannot be used to wash down buildings, driveways, sidewalks and hard-surface areas or to flush gutters.
Outdoor watering by hand-held hose, faucet-filled bucket, a watering can or a drip irrigation system is still allowed at any time, and properties that use private well water are exempt from these restrictions, such as The Co-Op District, Hutto City Hall, many Hutto ISD facilities and the Riverwalk soccer fields.
The City said it will move into the next stage only if it's necessary, and that stage will limit water usage even further, with no outdoor watering allowed by automatic irrigation systems or hose-end sprinklers.
Any residents with questions, comments or concerns are encouraged to submit a ticket to the Water Conservation Violation section under the Public Works division of the City's Citizen Request Tracker.