Save Southlake Water
Water Conservation
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- Year-round water conservation measure in-effect:
While the City is not in a stage of drought, the year-round water conservation measure enacted by City Council prohibiting lawn and landscape watering between the hours of 10am and 6pm still applies. Residents and businesses are asked to water their lawns and landscape beds before 10am or after 6pm on any day of the week. A voluntary two-day-per-week watering schedule is recommended. Please check the schedule below for your days.
- 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) during normal conditions; however no lawn or landscape watering of any kind may occur during the hours of 10am to 6pm in the event any of the Stages of Drought Contingency are in effect.
- Is Southlake's water storage and distribution system adequate? Yes, the City of Southlake exceeds the State's minimum standards for storage and pumping capacity based on population size; however, consumption is unusually high in Southlake in part due to population density (large lots). This in part explains the high consumption that the City experiences during dry seasonal weather.
- 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 assigned watering days are allowed.
- For how long should I run my sprinkler zones? Irrigation zones should be run long enough to fill a rain gauge or small cup by 1 inch of water every 5 to 7 days.
- In the event Stage 1 or higher is triggered, does the watering schedule apply to drip systems and watering landscaping with a handheld hose? Yes. While watering with a drip system or handheld hose is allowed on any day at any time during normal conditions, under Stage 1 or higher of drought, watering landscaped beds or lawns with a drip system or handheld hose must also follow the day-of-the-week schedule and be done before 10am or after 6pm.
- May I water potted porch plants? Yes. Small potted plants may be watered with a watering can on any day at any time. The primary focus of implementing the Stage 1 or higher of drought contingency is directed to efficiently watering lawns and landscaping beds, and minimizing wasted water.
- Water Conservation and Drought Contingency: What is the difference? The City of Southlake has both a Water Conservation Ordinance No. 895-B and a Drought Contingency Ordinance No. 662-D.
- 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.
Click here to visit the Tarrant Regional Water District website.
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.
- Read more about Stages of Drought Contingency and how drought contingency may affect you.
- Learn more about permitted water use for construction activities (Developer Information).
- Learn more about the City's Public Education Campaign.
- View a presentation about the Water Conservation Ordinance.
- View a presentation about the Drought Contingency Ordinance.
- Annual Water Quality Report (2009). Please note the water quality report is for the last full year.
If you have questions about water conservation, there are many valuable resources on-line.
Please visit:
- SaveTarrantWater
- Home Water Survey (from the Tarrant Regional Water District)
- 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 or 817-980-4487.