Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

April showerless so far at Texas Tech
By Michelle Casady
Daily Toreador (Texas Tech)
04/19/2006

(U-WIRE) LUBBOCK, Texas — With Lubbock, Texas, still behind in average yearly rainfall, city officials are trying to raise awareness about water conservation.

Though the weather is getting warmer, citizens still are encouraged to keep lawn watering to a minimum.

"Nothing has changed really," said Sherry Stephens, water utilities chief operating officer. "We're still preparing for implementation of Phase II in case need should arise, and we are monitoring daily water consumption."

The drought contingency plan is in place to encourage citizens to use water wisely. For Phase II to be implemented there would have to be a significant reduction in the supply of water or a significant increase in the demand for water.

"It's not doing without, it's learning to do more with less," said Thomas Adams, Lubbock deputy city manger and water utilities director, in a February 2006 interview with The Daily Toreador.

Stephens outlined a list of things Texas Tech University students can do to conserve water:

- Run dishwashers only when they are completely full

- Wash clothes only when there are enough to make a full load

- Take shorter showers

- Do no let water run while brushing teeth

- If washing the car at home be sure to have a shut-off nozzle on the hose to prevent excessive run-off

- Rather than setting sprinklers to water the lawn, hand water it to ensure no run-off occurs.

Stephens did mention one change in water policy.

"Effective with day light savings time we now limit watering times for lawns," she said. "This is a separate ordinance though and would have been put in effective regardless of the drought contingency plan."

Watering times are limited to before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m. daily.

"Our water consumption has remained very consistent. We're not any worse off than we were a month ago," Stephens said. "We're not in a danger zone."

Stephens stressed the importance of proper lawn watering citing that sprinkler use is the single highest use of water during the summer months.

"Remember that Bermuda grass only needs one inch of water a week, and cool season grasses need only an inch and a half per week," she said.

Stephens said improper and excessive lawn watering is not only a poor use of water, but also can ruin plants.

Though water consumption per citizen is a little higher than Stephens said she would like, she said it is understandable because of the warm, dry winter experienced by West Texas.

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