Published: February 23, 2006 01:17 am      

Local drought situation still serious

GREENVILLE — The past few days of misty weather haven’t done anything to ease local drought conditions and there are no plans to ease water restrictions in the City of Greenville.

Public Works Director Massoud Ebrahim said there has been no change in the ongoing water shortage.

“The drought right now is really as it was before,” Ebrahim said, adding Lake Tawakoni, the reservoir from which the City of Greenville obtains its water, is still down more than eight feet from where it would normally be at this time of year.

“The past couple of rains that we have had, we only gained about an inch or so,” Ebrahim said. “The elevation at Lake Tawakoni is still a concern. We are still low on our municipal reservoirs, too.”

The wet weather has helped hold down demand, but Ebrahim said that won’t last forever, especially with the spring planting season just around the corner. Ebrahim hopes to have a second pump up and running on Tawakoni before that happens.

One of the city’s two 600 horsepower pumps stopped working last fall. The existing pump, which has been operating since around 1970, is providing enough water to meet current demand of about 4.5 million gallons per day. But should that pump also break down, the City of Greenville would be in trouble.

The City Council voted last week to pay up to $44,000 for repairs or a replacement for the nonfunctioning pump.

“Once we get that pump, we’ll be able to pump up to 10 million gallons per day,” Ebrahim said. “We can use the surplus to refill our municipal reservoirs.”

Just under an inch of rain has fallen locally during February, well below the 30-year average of 3.16 inches of precipitation. Greenville received 2.17 inches of rain in February, 2005 and 5.12 inches in February, 2004.

The municipal reservoir system has not been recharged due to runoff in the past 12 months.

The City of Greenville remains under Stage 2 of the drought management plan, which calls for a 10 percent reduction in total water use and/or daily water demand.

Under the plan, irrigation of landscaped areas are limited to Sundays and Thursdays for water customers with a street address ending in an even number, and Saturdays and Wednesdays for customers with an odd numbered address.

The washing of vehicles is prohibited except on designated watering days and then only with a bucket or hose with an automatic shutoff nozzle. Washing may still be done at commercial car washes.

The watering of golf courses is prohibited except between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., unless the golf course utilizes a water source other than the City of Greenville. The Wright Park Municipal golf course is irrigated by effluent from the wastewater treatment plant and is not subject to the restriction.

Any person found violating the plan is guilty of a misdemeanor criminal offense and can face a fine of up to $200 for each day the plan is violated. Three or more violations can result in the termination of water service under the plan.

City officials said Stage 2 of the plan will be rescinded only when the area receives substantial rainfall.

Ebrahim said there are no current plans to implement a higher stage of the plan, which would call for more severe water restrictions.

“I think we are fine for right now,” he said. “If we decide to do any more, we’ll first make a recommendation to the city manager.”

A ban on outdoor burning is also still in effect inside the City of Greenville, with the exception of outdoor grills for cooking.