Water conservation measures go into effect every April 1 in Lubbock and the city is still in Stage 1 drought restrictions.
According to Aubrey Spear, the Director of Water Utilities, the city has been in some kind of drought restriction since 2006.
The measures limit people from being able to irrigate during the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. There are also only certain days that you can irrigate, and it’s based on the last two digits of your address.
For more detailed information about this change, see the associated story here.
“We need to continue to conserve, even though the city of Lubbock has one of the most diverse water supplies and we obviously have the resources to make sure everybody’s going to have water,” Spear said. “However, we do know that conserving, we’ve demonstrated this in 2013 Strategic water supply plan, if we conserve water like we’re doing right now, we can delay very expensive water supply projects for up to 20 years, which means money in people’s pocket.”
Jay Taylor owns Paradise Lawn and Landscape and said there are some simple things people can do to make sure their irrigation systems are working right.
“Starting out this time of year, I would recommend having a licensed professional come out and actually do a test on the irrigation system,” Taylor said.
He also said there are some things you may want to make sure your system has to keep watering efficiently.
“Making sure you have a rain-free sensor that’s tied in and actually functioning, and what that does is when we do get rain outside, then it’s going to shut the irrigation system off,” Taylor said.
When you do get to watering your lawn, Taylor said shorter periods of time may be better.
“Water for shorter periods of time but more frequently, so you know, water, and then have a second cycle kick on, say an hour or two after the first one has ran so it’s giving the water time to absorb into the ground versus just run off down the gutter,” Taylor said.
