News see more »

In the last three weeks, the flow of the Llano River has dropped from 100 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 44 cfs. A cubic foot is about 7.5 gallons.

This rapid decline has prompted the City of Llano to remind customers that the voluntary water restrictions now in place will become mandatory if the flow of river gets much lower.

“When the river flows at 40 cfs or less, residents are required to follow the City’s watering schedule”, said Llano City Manager Finley deGraffenried. “And if the river falls below 20 cfs, City crews will begin placing flashboards on the dam, with additional restrictions being placed on water use.”

Advertisement • Your Ad Here

Mandatory water restrictions begin with Stage Two of the City of Llano Drought Contingency Plan. These restrictions were last implemented in 2006. That year, the restrictions went into effect on July 23rd and the river reached a low of 20 cfs on August 25th.

The goal of Stage Two is to reduce non-essential water uses such as lawn irrigation and car washing in order to reduce daily peak water demands.

The Drought Contingency Plan was recently amended to permit twice a week watering under Stage Two restrictions. Customers whose address ends with an odd number may irrigate on Wednesday and/or Saturday. Customers with an even-numbered address may irrigate on Thursday and/or Sunday.

Irrigation with automatic sprinkler systems or hose-end sprinklers is not permitted any time between the hours of 10 AM and 8 PM. Irrigation is permitted at any time on designated watering days if by means of a hand-held hose, a faucet-filled bucket or water can or drip irrigation system.

As of June 1st, 103 water systems across the state were enforcing mandatory water restrictions. Most of the systems are located in and around Austin and San Antonio, an area suffering from extreme or exceptional drought conditions.

Although most of Llano County is only in a moderate drought, much of the recharge area for the springs that feed the Llano River (Edwards and Real Counties) is in extreme drought. On Monday the flow of the Llano River upstream at Junction was 52 cfs compared to 71 cfs for the same time in 2006.

The forecast does not immediately look promising as the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center forecasts below normal precipitation and above normal temperatures for the next two weeks.

A copy of the Llano Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan and watering schedule is available online at www.llanotx.com.

A glimmer of hope may appear on the horizon for the area. In a June 4th statement, the Climate Prediction Center said that conditions are favorable for a transition to El Nino conditions between June and August of this year.

An El Nino pattern historically has brought wetter condition to the region. National Weather Service long-range predictions show above normal precipitation for the region beginning in October and extending through April of next year.