Ongoing and worsening drought conditions in the Panhandle prompted city officials this week to implement Stage 1 of Amarillo’s drought plan.
As part of its 2024 Drought Contingency Plan approved by Amarillo City Council, the city is asking residents and businesses to follow Stage 1 of the plan, which consists of a voluntary outdoor watering schedule.
According to the resolution, Stage 1 of the plan is implemented when demand or normal operating condition results in a drawdown of the reservoir to at or below approximately 60 percent of its capacity or when total daily water demand equals or exceeds approximately 70 percent of the available water production capability for five consecutive days. The Amarillo reservoir is currently at 60 percent of its storage capacity.
“The community, both commercial and residential, will begin the curtailment practices of reducing water usage,” said Shannon Tollison, City of Amarillo Director of Utilities – Regulatory Compliance, at a Monday morning news conference. “The current plan has the expectation or request that we maintain a water conservation practice based on an even addresses and the irrigation practices associated with it.”
Tollison added: “The primary reason we’ve gone into drought contingency at this point is because of the reservoir levels. So, Amarillo has a reservoir that has a 500 million gallon storage capacity. Currently, that location has dropped below the 300 million mark, which puts us at 60% of that reservoir’s capacity, which, it’s at the rate that at some point we have to start establishing those metrics to reduce usage.”
According to Tollison, Stage 1 of the Drought Contingency Plan includes voluntary outdoor watering based on odd and even-numbered addresses. Odd-numbered addresses may water on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Even-numbered addresses may water on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Residents are asked not to water on Saturdays and are asked to water lawns between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and to water lawns no more than three times a week to conserve water.
Last time Stage 1 was entered was 2022
The last time the city entered Stage 1 of the Drought Contingency Plan was on July 22, 2022. The duration of that event was one week.
“The reservoir is entirely fed by the (Canadian River Municipal Water Authority) supply line,” Tollison said. “Our allocation is only 36 million gallons a day, so 36 million gallons a day is coming into that reservoir, but we’re drawing 48 million gallons a day into the plant to meet demand.
“So, obviously, as we continue that trend, because the wind is so high right now, we can’t continue to refill the reservoir. So we’re asking for voluntary reduction in usage so that we can try and gain some more space in that reservoir,” Tollison continued.
Tollison said the forecast for continued hot, dry conditions could make this Stage 1 session continue longer than the one-week duration seen in 2022.
“The last time we were in stage one drought contingency for one week and that was it,” she said. “But unless we see major shifts in the weather patterns, we’re seeing right now the high heat levels, and the continuous winds, that’s what raises that rate of evaporation … which is stressing that reservoir even more than just the demand,” Tollison explained. “Out of the entire state, about 41% of the whole state is in some level of drought. Now, you have areas like South Texas that had historic rains recently, but predominantly in the northern Panhandle in north-central region, you have a lot of communities that are going into similar stages of drought contingency.”
Tollison warned that if the reservoir level doesn’t start seeing a reduction in decline, the next escalation is when that reservoir hits 50%, which is roughly 250 million gallons. “
At that point, we would have to go into Stage 2 per the drought contingency plan,” she said. “But we’re maintaining daily observation of where that reservoir sits today, and each day following what we would like to see is the reservoir returned to 70% capacity and stay there for five days for us to rescind the notice.”
Tollison added: “There are provisions of the drought contingency plan that must be issued by the mayor, but that’s when you get into stage four and stage five drought. Where we are right now, it is the director of utility’s ability to call and say we need to issue stage one drought contingency to slow down that depletion of the reservoir. Obviously, we don’t want to get to the stage four and five.”
Nell Williams is a staff writer covering trends and other news for the Amarillo Globe-News. Have a story idea? Email her at nwilliams@usatodayco.com .
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo goes into Stage 1 Drought Contingency Plan
Reporting by Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
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By Nell Williams, Amarillo Globe-News | USA TODAY Network
