Austinites have made good use of their galoshes and umbrellas this fall, but the city is still suffering from a historically high drought.
This assessment is based on studies conducted by the Lower Colorado River Authority, which controls the raw water resources in Central Texas. Their research shows that as of August, Central Texas was facing a deficit of more than 1.5 million acre-feet of incoming water over the past 20-month period in comparison to the historical average.
“On average during this period, we would have seen about 2 million acre-feet come in,” said Emlea Chanslor, Lower Colorado River Authority spokeswoman. “During the previous 20 months, it was 477,000 acre-feet. The rain we’ve been having is great, but it’s not enough to serve the whole city. That’s why we’re going to be conservative and continue to recommend to consumers that they cut off their lawn-watering as much as possible.”
Because heavy rains are not enough to overcome the drought, the city implemented Stage 2 Water Use Restrictions Aug. 19, which limit lawn-watering to once a week, prohibit adding water to indoor and outdoor ornamental fountains and only allow restaurants to serve water to customers if they request it, among other rules.
The city has also implemented a slew of programs that attempt to increase water efficiency, including the Free Toilet Program and the Toilet Rebate Program. Both encourage Austin Water Utility customers to replace old toilets, which can use up to six gallons of water per flush, with high-efficiency toilets that meet the Environmental Protection Agency’s WaterSense standard of less than 1.6 gallons of water per flush.
“[Many] older buildings have higher-use toilets,” said Austin Water spokeswoman Jill Mayfield. “When you have a multi-family complex, saving water saves money for the owners and the residents. It also saves money for us, reduces energy use and creates improved infrastructure.”
The Free Toilet Program offered free replacements of older toilets to customers with high water-use toilets, but the program ended July 31 after all of the available funding for the program had been used. Many Austin companies were able to take advantage of the free toilets before the deadline. For example, Greystar Management installed a total of 745 toilets in two of its apartment facilities in North Austin at no cost to the residents or the company.
“We’re trying to do everything we can to reduce expenses for our residents and ourselves,” said company spokeswoman Candiss Escobar. “We decided to take advantage of the toilets to save our customers money, especially with the water situation in Austin.”
Some consumers are wary of the toilets, because early models of high efficiency toilets often required multiple flushes per use, eventually requiring more water. Residents have been satisfied with the toilets, Escobar said.
“In regards to how it’s working and people having to flush more frequently, we aren’t getting negative feedback at all,” she said. “Our customers have been really pleased.”
Austin Water Utility’s request for more city funding for the Free Toilet Program is currently under revision, but consumers can still take advantage of the rebate program, with the option to receive up to $200 if they replace a toilet made before 1996 with an approved high-efficiency toilet.
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