Upping water conservation amidst drought
Keep America Beautiful, the national organization to which the local Keep Wimberley Beautiful chapter belongs, encourages communities across America to Beautify the environment sustainably. We in Wimberley have a special local problem of conserving water as we are in a drought.
Recently the president of the local Keep Wimberley Beautiful Chapter, Lin Weber, announced a special water conservation effort. According to Weber, this initiative was in response to the Wimberley Water Supply Corporation’s move into Stage Four water restrictions, prohibiting all outdoor watering.
“I want you all to know that KWB will not be watering our containers and beds in the square or our plants in Martha’s park for some amount of time,” she said.
“Four of six WWSC well levels within the Middle Trinity Aquifer are at historic lows and continuing to drop at an alarming rate (particularly in the past 24 days),” the WWSC said in an email. “This is obviously due to the lack of rainfall, but in addition to rainfall: high temperatures, population increase, tourism and development are all playing a significant part in the decline of the aquifer.”
Aqua Texas, which takes its water from the same aquifer used by the WWSC, announced Stage Four water restrictions of its own. During this stage, the following is prohibited: automatic irrigation systems; hose-end sprinklers; the use of soaker hoses for anything other than foundations; filling/refilling pools, ponds, fountains, waterfalls or other aesthetic water features; the use of fountains, waterfalls, or other aesthetic water features; and car washing or power washing.
KWB wants to lead by example, getting signs to put in its beds to let the community know it is doing its part to conserve water. We can all participate in water conservation by capturing water (to use on our special plants) from our roofs when it does rain and also the condensation from our air conditioners. Use of water in the house should be minimized with actions such as short showers, and we should avoid letting the water run while we brush our teeth or wash our hands.