Daily Record infographic by Colton Ashabranner

San Marcos will soon be under drought restrictions. 

The City of San Marcos announced Thursday that it would head into Stage 1 drought restrictions, beginning Sunday at noon after the 10-day average Edwards Aquifer index well level fell below 660 feet above mean sea level. The city said the 10-day average aquifer level was recorded at 659.7 feet and the daily reading was 658.6 feet on Wednesday. 

Tyler Hjorth, Director of the City of San Marcos Utilities Department, said the city is already an inch behind in rainfall for this time of the year following a dry winter. 

“We have a long, hot and probably dry summer ahead of us so we need to do what we can now to protect our precious water resources,” Hjorth said. 

The city’s move to Stage 1 drought restrictions comes after the Edwards Aquifer Authority enacted Stage 1 Critical Period Management permit reductions for counties under its purview, which includes Hays, Atascosa, Bexar, Caldwell, Comal, Guadalupe and Medina counties within the San Antonio Pool 

EAA Critical Period Management Plan for the San Antonio Pool requires Edwards groundwater permit holders to reduce their annual authorized pumping by 20%. EAA stated that these reductions apply to all Edwards Aquifer groundwater permit holders authorized to pump more than 3 acre-feet annually, including industrial and agricultural uses as well as water utilities authorized to pump water from the Edwards Aquifer for delivery to their respective customers. 

Under Stage 1 restrictions, the city restricts use of sprinklers to one day per week on a designated day determined by address — addresses ending with 0 or 1 may use sprinklers on Monday; 2 or 3 on Tuesday; 4 or 5 on Wednesday; 6 or 7 on Thursday; and 8 or 9 on Friday. Irrigation using hose-end sprinklers is allowed on the designated weekday during designated usage times. Irrigation with automatic irrigation systems is allowed on the designated weekday beginning at 8 p.m. and ending the following morning at 8 a.m. 

Hand watering and using soaker hoses or drip irrigation is allowed on any day and at any time. 

Additionally, Stage 1 rules also limit at-home car washing, washing of impervious surfaces and foundation water to one day per week. The city stated that wasting water is prohibited. 

Full text of Stage 1 rules can be found at sanmarcostx.gov/drought.

For more information please visit the City of San Marcos website at www.sanmarcostx.gov/drought or call 512-393-8310.   

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