By Christin Coyne
ccoyne@mineralwellsindex.com

As Lake Palo Pinto nears 30 percent capacity, city departments are cutting back on water use and plans are progressing for buying Brazos River Water from Parker County to blend with Palo Pinto Lake water.

The city pool will be closing a couple weeks early, fall softball leagues will be suspended indefinitely, and the cemetery and other city landscaping will be watered sparingly, according to City Manager Lance Howerton, as the city tries to curb its own water use and set a good example.

“It's likely by the end of the week we will hit stage 3 [water shortage conditions],” Howerton said.

What measures will be instituted at that point have not yet been finalized, but Howerton said he has suggested to council members that any additional water conservation be initiated in mid-August.

“We still have some planning to do,” Howerton said. “We've made some tremendous progress … but we don't want to rush into this.”

Though the current version of the drought contingency plan prohibits outdoor water use including vehicle washing, outside watering of lawns and window washing will also be prohibited after stage three is triggered when Lake Palo Pinto reaches 856 feet above mean sea level. Despite several recent rains, the lake was at 856.05 feet above mean sea level Tuesday morning.

Public water use not essential for health, safety and sanitary purposes is also banned once lake levels reach the stage three water shortage trigger, according to the document, including street washing, filling swimming pools and watering athletic fields.

Businesses such as car washes, laundromats and nurseries must obtain written permission from the city manager for intended water use, according to the water conservation plan.

The plan may be amended, however, according to Howerton.

Ken Choffel of HDR Engineering, the consulting firm for the water district, has run a series of calculations and advised that additional water restrictions may not be very helpful in appreciably extending the life of Lake Palo Pinto, according to Howerton.

“We are considering some type of day restrictions,” Howerton said, rather than entirely prohibiting outside watering.

However, when additional water conservation rules will come into effect and what they will look like is still under review, according to Howerton.

The pipeline and other work necessary to bring Brazos River water to the district's collection station to be blended with the Lake Palo Pinto water is scheduled to be completed within the week, but blending will likely begin around the middle of August, Howerton said.

According to water district staff, the Palo Pinto County Municipal Water District #1 plans to enter a contract with the Parker County district to buy their unused water through the end of the year.

Parker County contracted for more water than they need and has obtained permission from the Brazos River Authority to sell the remaining water rights to the PPCMWD for the purchase price of $57 per acre-foot.

Parker County will be seeking the go ahead on a draft of the contract Tuesday night.

Though the amount of water may be more than the district needs, they will only pay for what is used, according to one official.

Around 20 percent to 30 percent of the city's water will be from the river once blending begins, according to Howerton.

If Lake Palo Pinto does not fill up in the next few months, they are also looking to take measures to begin pumping water from Lake Mineral Wells around the first part of next year.

“[Enforcement of drought contingency measures] is going quite well,” Howerton said. “I'd like to commend our customers for their willingness.”