Stage 3 water restrictions in effect for western portion of Georgetown water service area 

Aug 16, 2023

Due to excessive irrigation, water supply challenges, and severe drought conditions, customers in the western side of the City of Georgetown’s service area – generally the areas west of D.B. Wood Road and southwest of Williams Drive – will remain in Stage 3 restrictions through Sept. 4. Watering with an irrigation system or hose-end sprinkler is prohibited during Drought Stage 3.

Customers not in the affected area may return to Stage 2 restrictions, which allow for one-day-per-week outdoor watering. Strict compliance to the one-day schedule is required to avoid additional restrictions.

You can enter your address into the interactive map below to find out if you are in the Stage 2 or Stage 3 area.

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You may also view a map of the affected area, including water infrastructure locations, here.

Georgetown water customers that remain in Stage 3 restrictions include but are not limited to residents and businesses:

“We did not make this decision lightly,” said Georgetown Mayor Josh Schroeder. “We know Georgetown water customers take pride in their homes, and not being allowed to water our lawns is far from ideal. However, having safe drinking water for our customers must take priority over pristine, green lawns. We are taking this step to ensure we can continue to provide safe drinking water, at least until temperatures cool down.”

All City splashpads will be closed for the rest of the season, and City facility irrigation systems not using reclaimed water will remain off. City-maintained pools will remain open, as water use is minimal and must be done to maintain operations and sanitation.

Several, predominately regional factors contributed to the City’s decision to keep 35 percent of its customers — including customers in the ETJ, outside the ETJ, and within City limits — in Stage 3 restrictions:

“A combination of cascading challenges – within our system and regionally – have left us with few options to ensure we maintain safe drinking water for all our customers,” said Assistant City Manager Nick Woolery. “If any one of those conditions were to improve, we could look at lifting the restrictions, but for now, everyone must adhere to the watering restrictions in place, so we don’t have to take them further.”

Find more information on rebates, programming your controller how-to videos, and information on our water system at water.georgetown.org.

Why has the City enacted Stage 3 restrictions in only a portion of its service area?The primary water sources for the three pump stations serving the Stage 3 area are the Southside Water Treatment Plant, Northlake Plant, and the City of Leander. The Southside Plant is offline for rehabilitation; the Northlake Water Treatment Plant pumps that serve this area have been running a maximum capacity; and the water from Leander is greatly reduced for the foreseeable future. There are no other alternative water sources for those three pump stations due to the topography of the area (unlike other parts of the City water system that do have alternatives). Once the Southside Water Treatment Plant comes back online, an additional 3 million gallons of capacity per day would be dedicated to this area. In the interim, this area will remain the most stressed part of the water system until Southside comes back online or we are able to pull enough water from the City of Leander. In other words, we are targeting the restrictions in response to the operational need to stabilize that specific area of our system. The other parts of the system benefit from different water sources that are currently stable.

These restrictions are necessary to maintain the integrity of the City’s drinking water system. The City Manager has broad authority to order water conservation measures necessary to protect the public health, safety, and welfare.

How much water is Georgetown pulling from the City of Leander?The City of Georgetown is collecting water from the City of Leander. The amount of water coming from the City of Leander since July 13 is not sufficient to keep up with demand in the west or to get our western area out of Stage 3. Georgetown didn’t need – and therefore didn’t take – water from Leander on Monday, July 17, because the western segments of our system had recovered enough due to lower water usage over the weekend during the temporary citywide Stage 3 restrictions and because the City’s watering schedule in Stage 2 prohibits watering on Mondays. The challenges are compounded by the high demand for water for irrigation in the west and the Southside Treatment Plant, which also serves the western area, being offline for rehabilitation. We are coordinating with Leander to develop both near- and long-term solutions to best serve all our customers and pull our customers out of Stage 3.

How do surface water rights work, and why are neighboring cities not in the same restrictions we are?Surface water rights for Lake Georgetown and Lake Stillhouse are contracted through the Brazos River Authority. Each municipality is unique with how many acre feet they have access to in the lakes per their contracts, as well as how many other sources of water (like wells, MUDS, etc.) they pull from to total their available capacities in their service areas. Watering restrictions look different for every City, and they are based on things like treatment capacity, usage, lake levels, and drought conditions.

Will we fine residents who were out of town and unable to change their irrigation during the temporary restrictions?Please email [email protected] with your address and concern. If possible and approved by the property owner, the City can turn off water to the irrigation system.

What about golf courses and car washes?All six golf courses in Georgetown and Southwestern University use reclaimed water, as do some City maintained outdoor facilities, such as soccer fields. Sun City also uses reclaimed water for their communal facilities, in addition to their golf course. Car washes also recycle their water.

Why is the City continuing to approve new development when Stage 3 restrictions are in place?The state legislature has severely limited what municipalities can do to restrict growth. If developers can meet our development rules, they are entitled to develop their property. We are in the process of updating our development rules to match the vision we adopted in the 2030 Plan. Find out more about the 2030 plan here.

All new development pay impact fees, which help fund capital improvements to the City’s water infrastructure. Currently, those funds contribute to the $200 million, 44 million gallon-a-day Southlake Water Treatment Plant, half of this plant is scheduled to come online in 2025, and to the Northlake Water Treatment Plant expansion of 8 million gallons per day which should come online in the next two months. Learn more about water capital improvement projects here.

Is the City meeting its obligations to provide water within its service area?The City is statutorily required to meet daily drinking water needs. (i.e., drinking water, showers, toilets, etc.). The City has capacity constraints s during the summer months when the vast majority of our drinking water is used to irrigate lawns. That is why the recent order was narrowly tailored to meet our immediate conservation needs.

Is hand-held watering allowed during these restrictions?Yes, hand-held watering is allowed at any time during both Stage 2 and Stage 3 restrictions. Hand-held watering includes holding your hose with a nozzle and watering with a watering can or bucket. You can hand-water anything, including your lawn, plants, and foundation.

Why can’t I fill my pool?A person may not use water to add to an indoor or outdoor swimming pool, splash pad, or hot-tub, unless necessary to maintain the water purification system in service or to maintain structural integrity of the pool.

Why did we pick Sept. 4 as the day to end Stage 3 restrictions?The City is continuing to monitor this unprecedented situation and will only implement water restrictions in a portion of our water service area as necessary to preserve the integrity of our drinking water system. Our primary goal is maintaining sufficient pressures for drinking water and other domestic uses in the western portions of our service area.

Will we roll the schedule to allow Friday-Sunday customers who could not water July 14-16 to water this week (July 18-23)?Since this is an isolated issue for the west side of our service area, we will not be changing the watering schedule.

What are we doing about new homes that need to install new sod?Landscape install variances are not permitted in Stage 3 restrictions, and sod is not required by our building code to allow homes to be sold or occupied within the City of Georgetown. We are allowing residential builders to provide us a letter of intent to install landscaping when water restrictions are lifted at their final inspection. Generally, we do not recommend laying down new sod during the heat of summer.

Why is the City flushing water out of hydrants?TCEQ regulations require water utilities to flush water lines regularly to ensure safe drinking water. The water coming out of the fire hydrants should not be used for consumption or irrigation.