Only one measly other item worth writing about! (It came during a small break in Lindsey Hill items, if you’re wondering about the time stamps above.)
Item 12: Water conservation.
We discussed the new stages at the workshop last time.
We’re going from five stages to three stages.
The director (Virginia Parker) of the San Marcos River Foundation has concerns. Basically, right now, when the Edward’s Aquifer gets low, it triggers drought restrictions. She’s worried that under the new rules, drought restrictions wouldn’t get triggered when the Edward’s Aquifer gets low. The issue is if the new formula for triggering drought restrictions would add together all the water sources (GRBA, ARWA, and Edward’s Aquifer) and use the total as a measure for triggering drought stages. In this case, GRBA and ARWA could compensate if only Edward’s Aquifer is low. Parker’s point is that if Edward’s Aquifer is low, we should go into conservation, regardless of the others, in order to keep the river healthy.
A city staff member addresses this point and says no, Edward’s aquifer will be part of the formula on its own.
It’s not spelled out in the ordinance, and I’m not well-informed enough to know if his answer was sufficient. But I don’t have any reason to doubt him, either.
The San Marxist 