The ongoing heatwave in North Texas and the lack of recent measurable rain have led to a substantial increase in water usage in cities throughout DFW and the region. In DeSoto usage has increased steadily enough for it to trigger Stage 1 Water Restrictions on Friday, August 4, under the City’s Drought Contingency Plan to ensure safety and ongoing water service. These Stage 1 Water Restrictions are voluntary and are triggered when daily water usage reaches or exceeds 80% of the production capacity for five consecutive days.
The City of DeSoto is asking all residents and businesses to conserve water and voluntarily adhere to the specified restrictions on non-critical water uses when daily water demand reaches these high thresholds.
Water customers are requested to voluntarily limit many non-critical water usages, especially the irrigation of landscaped areas to no more than once every five days based on the last digit of street address with irrigation hours limited to between 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. The following watering schedule shows which days watering will be allowed depending on the last digit of their street address.
Watering Schedule
Last Digit of Address Allowed Watering Dates
0 and 5 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th
1 and 6 1st, 6th,11th, 16th, 21st, 26th
2 and 7 2nd, 7th, 12th, 17th, 22nd, 27th
3 and 8 3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th, 23rd, 28th
4 and 9 4th, 9th, 14th, 19th, 24th, 29th
(No watering on the 31st)
Please note that the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension advises that a lawn that is watered properly should generally be able to go 5 to 8 days between watering. You can find more information on this specific issue on Page 6 of the Texas A&M Cooperative Extension Lawn Water Management Guide along with other valuable lawn care information. Please be aware that there is no conservation request being made for hand watering lawns which is permitted at all times provided that a hand sprayer nozzle that shuts off when released is being used.
“In order to make sure that our residents and businesses stay safe and to ensure that all have essential water services, the City of DeSoto has enacted the first stage of our Drought Contingency Plan. Our immediate goal is to ease the current excessive demand for water so that our water supply can return to safe and sufficient levels to carry us through this severe heat period,” said Brandon Lacy, the Director of DeSoto’s Public Utilities Department.
Apartments, office building complexes, or other properties containing multiple addresses will be identified by the lowest address number for the purpose of establishing the appropriate irrigation schedule.
While residents are permitted at all times to water their lawns and landscaping with a handheld hose, watering container, or a drip system (IE: Soaker Hose) without penalty, the City requests that reasonable efforts are made to curtail non-essential usage such as residential washing of cars, serving water at restaurants except by request, adding water to swimming pools or hot tubs, washing down exterior hard surfaces, or operating an ornamental fountain or pond that does not recirculate water.
These voluntary restrictions apply to all residential and business properties in the utilization of water provided through DeSoto Public Utilities. Properties with private water sources, including wells, are not limited by these conservation requests.
View the City of DeSoto’s Drought Contingency Plan on the City’s website at http://www.ci.desoto.tx.us/documentcenter/view/20945
