SAN MARCOS, Texas — Dropping aquifer levels are forcing San Marcos to enter Stage 3 drought restrictions, effective Sunday, July 2, at 12 p.m.
On Monday, the 10-day Edwards Aquifer index well average level was at 638.5 feet and the daily reading was at 636.4 feet. Stage 3 is triggered when the average falls below 640 feet above mean sea level (msl).
As Central Texas continues to see triple-digit heat, water levels in the San Marcos River remain low. Virginia Parker, the executive director for the San Marcos River Foundation, told KVUE that water levels are less than half of what the average is.
The San Marcos Springs has not been flowing the way that it normally does, according to Edwards Aquifer Authority's Paul Bertetti.
"We would only expect it to be this low about 10% of the time. And it's been this low in terms of those low flows for several months. So even though those flows are good enough to maintain the endangered species and the threatened species, they're lower than we would like to see," Bertetti said.
To conserve water, the City of San Marcos is asking people to restrict their use of sprinklers to one day every other week on a designated weekday determined by their address.
If you use hose-end sprinklers on your property, you're allowed to use them only on your designated weekday during designated usage times. If you use automatic irrigation systems, you're allowed to run them on your designated weekday beginning at 8 p.m., and ending the following morning at 4 a.m.
Hand watering and using soaker hoses or drip irrigation is allowed on any day during the designated usage times.
San Marcos homeowner Nicholas Lee said he'll do what he can to help out, going so far as to possibly change some of his routines.
"Yikes, that's the first thing I hear about that one. Second thing, shorter showers, just I think that's gonna be the major issue. I got two kids, one of them like[s] to take 40-minute showers. We're gonna have to lower that to 20 minutes," Lee said.
Bertetti said the lack of rainfall last year was significant and that has put the aquifer levels lower than what they'd expect this time of year. They're about 20 feet lower than average.
"So it's going to take a while to recover the system. There's always a possibility we enter into a much-longer term drought in which water levels would go lower and lower, but then we would have more and more restrictions," Bertetti said.
Lee looks at it as doing his part to make sure their waters are flowing smoothly.
"My part helping out is just being part of a small, little solution to help our bigger community," Lee said.
The Stage 3 rules also limit washing cars at home and watering foundations to one day per week. Wasting water is prohibited.
Anyone with any questions about the rules is encouraged to visit the City's drought website.