Water conservation is a strategy or combination of strategies for reducing the volume of water withdrawn from a water supply source, reducing loss or waste of water, maintaining or improving the efficiency of water use, increasing the recycling and reuse of water, and preventing the pollution of water.
(Ordinance 2014-007, sec. 2, adopted 4/28/14; 1988 Code, sec. 34-162; Ordinance 2019-015 adopted 4/8/19; Ordinance 2024-028 adopted 8/16/2024)
(a) 
The city is located in Lamar County, Texas. The residential population was twenty-four thousand four hundred and seven (24,407) in 2023. Currently the city serves ten thousand six hundred and twenty (10,620) connections. The city also provides water to two (2) wholesale customers; Lamar County Water Supply District and Marvin-Jennings-Clardy Water Supply Corporation.
(b) 
The source of water for the city is 100% surface water from Pat Mayse Lake and Lake Crook. The city maintains Certificates of Adjudication, Nos. 4640 and 4943, for water rights from Pat Mayse Lake and Lake Crook totaling 37,000 acre-feet per year for municipal purposes and 36,610 acre-feet per year for industrial purposes. The priority dates are November 5, 1964 and May 31, 1922 respectively.
(c) 
Water is treated by the city's water treatment plant originally built in 1967 and expanded in 1995. The plant has a treatment capacity of 36 million gallons per day (MGD). The city has a total of 14.5 million gallons of potable water storage capacity, with 4 million gallons of the total capacity contained in elevated storage.
(d) 
Industrial is the primary retail water use for the city. In 2023, nearly eighty-two (82) percent of retail water metered was for industrial use. Single-family residential use accounted for nine (9) percent, commercial use was five (5) percent, agricultural use was less than one (< 1) percent, multifamily use was two (2) percent, and institutional use was one (1) percent of water use in 2023.
(Ordinance 2014-007, sec. 2, adopted 4/28/14; 1988 Code, sec. 34-163; Ordinance 2019-015 adopted 4/8/19; Ordinance 2024-028 adopted 8/16/2024)
The Certificate of Convenience and Necessity No. for the city is 10480; the Public Water Supply No. is 1390002; the Texas Water Development Board Regional Water Planning Group is Region D; the utility is located in Lamar County, Texas; the service area covers 38.12 square miles; Pat Mayse Lake and Lake Crook are the water sources; pumping capacity is 54 MGD; treatment capacity is 36 MGD; storage capacity is 14.5 million gallons; wastewater treatment capacity is 7.25 MGD; annual water reuse volume is between 5 and 17 million gallons. A completed utility profile for retail water suppliers that includes information regarding population and customer data, water use data, water supply system data, and wastewater system data for the city will be submitted with this plan to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Water Development Board.
(Ordinance 2014-007, sec. 2, adopted 4/28/14; 1988 Code, sec. 34-164; Ordinance 2019-015 adopted 4/8/19; Ordinance 2024-028 adopted 8/16/2024)
(a) 
Due to the level of industrial use of water in the city, the total gallons per customer per day (GPCD) metric is disproportionate and largely not influenced by residential water use. The level of industrial use is independent of population, climate and behavioral factors and instead based primarily upon the economic drivers of the individual industries. As a result, meaningful five (5) and ten (10) year conservation goals for total GPCD are not practical to obtain and are solely dependent upon industrial demands. The total GPCD for the city in 2023 was six hundred thirty-three (633).
(b) 
Residential use from 2019 to 2023 averaged fifty-six (56) GPCD, a value that is well below the residential GPCDs of most public water suppliers in the state. The goals for the city are based upon guidance from the State of Texas Water Conservation Implementation Task force of 2004, which suggested a 0.5% reduction in usage per year. The city's five (5) year goals are four hundred fifty-three (453) for total GPCD and fifty-six (56) for residential GPCD. The city's ten (10) year goals are four hundred thirty (430) for total GPCD and fifty-five (55) for residential GPCD.
(Ordinance 2014-007, sec. 2, adopted 4/28/14; 1988 Code, sec. 34-165; Ordinance 2019-015 adopted 4/8/19; Ordinance 2024-028 adopted 8/16/2024)
The city conducts ongoing public and wholesale customer education through periodic distribution of water conservation brochures and information; providing water conservation brochures and materials at the department of utilities administration office and other public places; informational presentations conducted by city staff to local organizations, schools and civic groups; providing information to local media outlets, e.g. the local newspaper, television and radio outlets; posting water conservation information on the city website; and providing water conservation information to applicants for new service.
(Ordinance 2014-007, sec. 2, adopted 4/28/14; 1988 Code, sec. 34-166; Ordinance 2019-015 adopted 4/8/19; Ordinance 2024-028 adopted 8/16/2024)
The city meters 100% of water used for residential, industrial, commercial and institutional accounts. Meters are tested upon customer request and in conjunction with the city's meter testing, repair and replacement program master meters are tested and calibrated annually to within an accuracy of plus or minus 5%; meters larger than 3" are tested and calibrated annually in accordance with AWWA standards; meters are routinely replaced based upon the age of the meter or abnormally high or low water usage readings; all new meters are touch read or automatic reading; inactive accounts are identified on a monthly basis and are inspected periodically for illegal connections; abandoned meters are removed.
(Ordinance 2014-007, sec. 2, adopted 4/28/14; 1988 Code, sec. 34-167; Ordinance 2019-015 adopted 4/8/19; Ordinance 2024-028 adopted 8/16/2024)
(a) 
The city maintains an active program for leak detection and repair. The previous 5-year water loss average water loss for the city is calculated to be nine percent (9%). The city's 5- and 10-year goals are to maintain water loss at ten percent (10%) or less.
(b) 
A periodic internal water audit measures water loss by comparing water volumes sold to metered water diversion. Any abnormalities are investigated by Department of Utilities personnel using leak detection equipment. Water lines determined to have leaks are either replaced or repaired as quickly as practical by city crews or, if necessary, by licensed private contractors.
(c) 
In 2023, the city repaired 203 leaks; 7 production meters were tested; 9 meters larger than one and one-half inches (1.5") were replaced; and 25 meters smaller than one and one-half inches (1.5") were replaced as part of the ongoing leak detection and repair program and to aid in the reduction of water loss.
(d) 
Elevated and ground storage facilities are monitored by the water treatment plant SCADA system capable of alerting personnel to changes of water levels in the storage tanks, which would indicate possible breaks in a water main, tank overflows, and/or other abnormalities in the distribution system.
(e) 
Visual inspections are performed routinely by meter readers and utilities staff. When meter readings are obtained that indicate unusually high water usage city personnel investigate the cause of the excessive usage and, if necessary, alert the customer of potential plumbing issues, e.g. plumbing fixture leaks.
(Ordinance 2014-007, sec. 2, adopted 4/28/14; 1988 Code, sec. 34-168; Ordinance 2019-015 adopted 4/8/19; Ordinance 2024-028 adopted 8/16/2024)
The city has a uniform rate structure. The city contracts with a rate consultant to perform an annual rate study to maintain cost-based rates. Demand charges discourage the excessive use of water.
(Ordinance 2014-007, sec. 2, adopted 4/28/14; 1988 Code, sec. 34-169; Ordinance 2019-015 adopted 4/8/19; Ordinance 2024-028 adopted 8/16/2024)
The city maintains a cross-connection control program, as required by the state. Risk of backflow is reduced when steps are taken to ensure that system pressures are maintained during periods of emergency repairs and also through periodic customer service inspections for cross connections. Facilities and structures identified as high hazards to public health are required to install backflow prevention devices to prevent back siphonage of nonpotable water caused by loss of pressure in water lines. Examples of potential cross connections include hose bibs, toilet float valves, swimming pools, water features, and irrigation sprinkler systems.
(Ordinance 2014-007, sec. 2, adopted 4/28/14; 1988 Code, sec. 34-170; Ordinance 2019-015 adopted 4/8/19; Ordinance 2024-028 adopted 8/16/2024)
(a) 
In accordance with the plumbing codes approved for the state, the city has adopted the International Plumbing Code, all new construction must comply with the code by using water saving plumbing fixtures. In addition, the state has recently adopted more stringent water saving performance measures for plumbing fixtures, which may be reviewed in the Texas Health and Safety Code chapter 372. The following maximum flow standards are listed in the Texas Administrative Code, title 30, chapter 290, subchapter G: faucets - 2.2 gallons per minute (gpm); shower heads - 2.5 gpm; pre-rinse spray valves - 1.6 gpm; toilets - 1.28 gallons per flush (gpf); urinals - 0.5 gpf.
(b) 
Service taps will not be given to customers that do not meet the city's requirements for service, including compliance with the adopted plumbing code requirement of installing water conserving plumbing fixtures. The city, building code inspection division inspects all new and repaired plumbing within the city limits. Certificates of occupancy and permanent water service are not granted to facilities that fail to meet all requirements.
(c) 
Customers in existing buildings that do not have water saving plumbing fixtures are provided educational materials and encouraged to retrofit their old plumbing fixtures with lower gpm and gpf standards. Increasing numbers of water efficient clothes and dishwashing machines are available, providing the same performance while using less water. A water efficient home can save as much as twenty percent (20%) or more of water through the use of water saving plumbing fixtures.
(Ordinance 2014-007, sec. 2, adopted 4/28/14; 1988 Code, sec. 34-171; Ordinance 2019-015 adopted 4/8/19; Ordinance 2024-028 adopted 8/16/2024)
The wasting of water is discouraged at all times, and prohibited during activation of the city's drought contingency plan. Water waste is defined as failure to repair controllable leaks to irrigation systems, plumbing fixtures, and pipes; operating an irrigation system with a broken or missing head, or a head that is out of adjustment; and during landscape irrigation allowing water to pond or run off of the property due to over watering, and watering between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.
(Ordinance 2014-007, sec. 2, adopted 4/28/14; 1988 Code, sec. 34-172; Ordinance 2019-015 adopted 4/8/19; Ordinance 2024-028 adopted 8/16/2024)
Examples of discretionary and nonessential uses are washing down hard-surfaced areas or structures, (e.g. vehicles, sidewalks, patios); using water for landscape irrigation; using water for dust control; using water in a fountain, pool, or water feature.
(Ordinance 2014-007, sec. 2, adopted 4/28/14; 1988 Code, sec. 34-173; Ordinance 2019-015 adopted 4/8/19; Ordinance 2024-028 adopted 8/16/2024)
The city will include in every wholesale water supply contract entered into or renewed after official adoption of the plan and including any contract extension the requirement that each successive wholesale customer develop and implement a water conservation plan or water conservation measures using the applicable elements of this chapter. If the customer intends to resell the water, the contract between the initial supplier and customer must provide that the contract for the resale of water must have water conservation requirements so that each successive customer in the resale of the water will be required to implement water conservation measures in accordance with the provisions of 30 TAC chapter 288.
(Ordinance 2014-007, sec. 2, adopted 4/28/14; 1988 Code, sec. 34-174; Ordinance 2019-015 adopted 4/8/19; Ordinance 2024-028 adopted 8/16/2024)