The City of Houston is asking residents to conserve water due to drought conditions in the area.
Mayor Sylvester Turner announced the city has entered Stage One of its Drought Contingency Plan, effective immediately.
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In Stage One, residents are requested to limit outdoor watering to twice a week between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. On Sundays and Thursdays, single-family residential customers with even-numbered street addresses are designated. Saturday and Wednesdays are reserved for customers with odd-numbered street addresses. Tuesdays and Fridays are for all others.
The restrictions are currently voluntary, but the Houston Public Works Department hopes they'll help reduce water use by 5%. Stage 2 would make the restrictions mandatory.
“This is just kind of getting people into that mindset," Turner said, adding that he felt the action was "prudent, before we get in a dire situation ... to try to be proactive, to work to conserve and ... hopefully without even going through stage two.”
Officials also asked properly owners to check for and repair water leaks, including dripping faucets and running toilets. It was also suggested that sprinkler heads be checked to make sure water isn't spraying onto the street or directly into a storm drain.
Adding to the water worries, the city reportedly had 50 water main breaks over the weekend, mostly attributed to the area's overly dry soil shifting and putting stress on underground pipes.
Little relief in the form of rain and lower temperatures is expected in the area until perhaps Monday or Tuesday.
The City of Katy has also asked residents to conserve water due to drought conditions.