Water Conservation
SAVE WATER. Nothing can replace it.
Quick Points:
NO Lawn Watering between 10am to 6pm year-round. Violators may be fined up to $2,000. Rain and freeze sensors are required at all new developments. At the present time, NO mandatory day-of-the-week watering schedules are in-effect. Come visit our booth at the July 3rd, Stars and Stripes Celebration, at Town Square! Questions? Please call (817) 748-8082.
The City of Southlake has enacted year-round conservation measures due to persisting long-term regional dry conditions in the North Texas area. While the State population continues to increase, water supplies are limited. Southlake is promoting stewardship of the environment and conservation of a finite resource. Water conservation is intended to be a long term strategy to achieve per capita consumption reductions, and avoid costly investments in additional infrastructure to transport and store potable water. Like many of our neighboring cities, Southlake has restricted the watering of landscapes and lawns using irrigation systems between the hours of 10 AM and 6 PM any day of the year regardless of rainfall conditions. The purpose of this year-round restriction is to prevent the unnecessary loss of water emmitted from sprinklers to evaporation. Watering during these hours is permitted only if using a hand-held hose or soaker hose (drip system).
Recommended Lawn Watering Schedule:The following irrigation schedule is currently recommended in order to decrease daily per capita water usage and achieve Southlake's 2015 and 2020 goals. In the event that Stage 1 of drought contingency is triggered, this irrigation schedule shall become mandatory. Property Designation | Watering Days | | Residential addresses ending in an even number (0, 2, 4, 6, or 8) | Wednesday & Saturday | | Residential addresses ending in an odd number (1, 3, 5, 7, or 9) | Thursday & Sunday | | Non-residential addresses including businesses, HOAs, parks, medians, etc. | Tuesday & Friday |
Partners:
Click here to visit the Tarrant Regional Water District web site. The City of Southlake has partnered with the Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD), and is participating in meetings to promote water conservation efforts at a regional level. The Tarrant Regional Water District owns the water supplies from which the City of Ft. Worth purchases and treats water for drinking purposes. The City of Southlake in-turn purchases it potable water from the City of Ft. Worth which runs four water treatment facilities.The TRWD has four major sources of water including: the West fork of the Trinity River that is fed by Lake Worth, Eagle Mountain Lake, and Lake Bridgeport the Clear fork of the Trinity River which is fed by Lake Benbrook the Cedar Creek reservoir; and the Richland Chambers reservoir
By partnering with the TRWD, the City of Southlake is able to use TRWD's public education materials and communicate a consistent message to the community. Remember these sources are limited while the regional population is expected to double in the next 50 years. View Tarrant Regional Water District's "Save Water Television Commercial" here.
Tips:Here are several quick and easy ideas for reducing water consumption in your home or business: - Regularly inspect your irrigation system, and fix or replace any broken or missing sprinkler heads.
- Do not water sidewalks, driveways or any pavement.
- Do not run sprinklers when it is windy.
- Be sure rain and freeze sensors have been installed.
- Water deeply and less often to establish deep roots.
Frequently Asked Questions:Why doesn't Southlake purchase water from the City of Grapevine (Lake Grapevine) which is closer than the City of Ft. Worth? The City of Grapevine does not have the production capacity or sufficient water rights from Lake Grapevine to provide water to Southlake. Water rights on surface lakes are owned by individual municipalities and/or water authorities. The water rights for Lake Grapevine were established in the 1940's at the time of construction of Lake Grapevine. Primary water rights for Lake Grapevine belong to the Park cities (Highland Park and University Park). The secondary water rights for Lake Grapevine are owned by Dallas Water Utilities. The City of Grapevine holds terciary water rights for the lake. There are no available water rights for the City of Southlake to take water off of Lake Grapevine. The City of Grapevine operates a 12 million gallon per day production capacity water plant to serve their utility customers. The City of Grapevine is also served by the Trinity River Authority. Grapevine maximizes their production facilities in order to minimize the end cost to their customers. As such, no treated water is available for the City of Southlake to purchase. Who determines Southlake's watering restrictions? Based upon Southlake's wholesale water purchase contract with the City of Ft. Worth, the drought contingency standards that Southlake operates under are required by contract. Failure to follow these guidelines would be a breach of contract and may result in loss of water service. Based upon recent efforts, all regional utilities are attempting to communicate the same message and as such are using the five day watering schedule if they purchase from the Ft. Worth Water Department or Dallas Water Utilities. Most of the area cities, including Keller, Westlake, Trophy Club, and North Richland Hills all are served by City of Ft. Worth and follow the same watering restrictions. Who selected the Tues/Fri, Wed/Sat, and Thurs/Sun watering schedule? The recommended, and possibly mandatory, lawn watering schedule was established by a joint water conservation panel of various municipal technical staff, and water conservation experts. The specific days were chosen by a committee of representatives from Ft. Worth, TRWD and some of the 26 wholesale customer cities served by Ft. Worth and TRWD. It allows residential customers to water twice weekly, each group having a weekday and a weekend day. This watering schedule evenly distributes the consumption of water throughout the region. Mondays were purposefully excluded because it has historically been a day of unusually high demand for the entire area, possibly because many commercial and industrial users resume production activities after having been closed for the weekend. What if I want to change my watering days? In the event the watering schedule becomes mandatory, NO exceptions or changes in the watering schedule are allowed. For how long should I run my sprinkler zones? Irrigation zones should be run long enough to fill a small cup by 1 inch of water every 5 to 7 days.
- A Water Conservation Plan is a combination of strategies to:
- reduce the consumption of water
- reduce the loss of water
- improve the efficient use of water
- increase the reuse and recycling of water
- set consumption targets. Southlake's 2015 goal is 190 gallons per capita per day, and 180 gallons per capita per day by 2020.
- A Drought Contingency / Emergency Water Management Plan is:
- a statement of a water supplier's capacities
- a response plan to address external conditions including drought or system failure that may create the need to restrict usage for the protection of health, safety and welfare of the public.
Learn More: Related Links: If you have questions about water conservation, there are many valuable resources on-line. Please visit:
Archived water conservation information mailed to Southlake residents and businesses:
Questions?If you have additional questions about water conservation, please call the Public Works Offices at 817-748-8082. Report Water Leaks or Violations: - To report a water leak, please submit a Public Works "Come Fix It" web form or call 817-748-8082.
- To report a violation, please contact Southlake's Code Enforcement Officer at 817-748-8222.
Go to Public Works Links for Residents Go to Southlake's Green Home Page |