Water Conservation District encourages community to be mindful of water consumption

The Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District wants to remind residents and businesses to be mindful of the water they are using. According to the US Palmer Drought Severity Index, Gonzales County is currently in an extreme period of drought.

“Typically, we don’t see this extreme (heat) until moving towards the end of August, but we’ve had this extended heat presently into May and June,” said Laura Martin, General Manager at Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District. “We look at an extended period of time (of drought). When it becomes an extended period of time and you’re looking at months, or a year, then that’s what’s considered a concern and larger measures have to be taken.”

These larger measures include a letter from the state stating that surface water rights must be reduced as well as underground water. 

“If we reached a point where we stayed in this drought for an extended period of time, then I would have to send out a letter stating that we would have to cut back all of large producing water wells. It would be an overall cutback, everybody would have to reduce for those larger production wells,” Martin said. “That’s not something we’ve ever had to do before and hopefully we won’t have to do that.”

Residential water use accounts for 72 percent of water distribution in urban landscape according to the Texas Water Journal and Texas Water Resources Institute. The Gonzales County Underground Water Conservation District is encouraging those to be mindful and conserve their water use. The GCUWCD recommends people inspect pipes and faucets. Faulty water leaks may occur if not inspected. They also recommend to water outside trees and lawns once a week, instead of every day. Watching the weather will be helpful in watering the lawn. For example; don’t water after a rainy day, according to the GCUWCD.

“The hours of the day are important when you water,” Martin said.  “You don’t want to water during the heat of the day because most of it is lost to evaporation and won’t go on the grass anyways. Primetimes are early in the morning to late in the evening to water”

They also recommend any cattle troughs aren’t being overwatered or overflowing and there is a stopper valve on those. Martin also recommends changing the type of landscape one has in their yard to have a xeriscaping instead of one that consumes large water, such as pond plants that require additional watering.

“Don’t wash your car every week. Take a shower, instead of a bath, is really big on consumption,” Martin said. “There’s all these small little things that if we all did it together, we could conserve more.”

Gonzales is a place with an abundance of water according to the GCUWCD.

“We have an abundance of water. We are in a blessed region of the state where we have a plentiful amount of water,” Martin said. “So much so that land owners have sold their water rights and water is being taken out of the county to provide for other counties that maybe don’t have as much.”

The only thing the GCUWCD doesn’t allow is waste, Martin said. Water must be used with a purpose.

“It’s a precious resource that we all have to share,” Martin said. “It’s something that we have to take care of and work together as a team to be mindful of how much water is consumed.”