Tuesday, November 7, 2000
Water Rationing Still On:
Many Big Country towns still
using water measures
By John Starbuck
Reporter-News Staff Writer
The heavens are starting to open for regional
water supplies.
Weekend rains have towns hoping their lakes
will regain appreciable levels. But officials say Mother Nature’s
hit-and-miss attitude won’t allow them to drop water rationing
rules completely.
Recent storm clouds have dropped as much
as 3 feet into area lakes. But with some lake levels still as
much as 22 feet below their spillways, observers continue to look
to the skies for help.
Lake Proctor, Comanche’s main water
source, received enough rain to allow city officials to relax
water restrictions from mandatory to voluntary. City Secretary
Bill Flannery said residents shouldn’t get complacent.
“Just because we get rain, people think
it’s hunky-dory again,” he said.
He added the level of the lake, which does
not have a spillway, must return from 17 feet before being full.
Since rain clouds sometimes take unusual
paths, folks in Stamford and Sweetwater are still waiting for
a beneficial storm.
“It’s rained a little bit here
and a little bit there,” Stamford City Manager Ken Roberson
said, “but just not in the right spots for runoff.”
Sweetwater’s primary water source,
Oak Creek Reservoir, has seen its level increase by more than
a foot in the last two weeks. That is little consolation to City
Manager David Maddox, who still has his town under the maximum
stage of water conservation because the lake is 22 feet below
the spillway.
“We’re concerned in that we want
Oak Creek to have more water supply than it does right now,”
he said.
He added the lake has enough water to last
until March. A project to supply water from 27 wells should be
operational by the first of the year, Maddox said.
Another town hurting for moisture is Throckmorton,
which is waiting for the finishing touches on a pipeline from
the town to Lake Graham. Steve Bowlin, the town’s public
works director, said water is being sent through the pipe, but
not as much as officials want because part of the pipe is being
enlarged.
“We’re only getting about half
of what we need from the pipeline,” he said.
The town continues to pull water from Lake
Throckmorton, but that water supply is expected to be empty by
year’s end — the same time the pipe project should be
finished.
Bowlin said officials are not going to tax
residents with more water restrictions until they have to.
While some towns are struggling with rationing,
Winters residents were freed from it last month. But residents
have not splurged just because Elm Creek Reservoir has an ample
water supply, said Jack Davis Jr., the town’s water superintendent.
“Our water consumption has stayed the
same as if we were still under rationing,” he said. “They
are doing their part to help out.”
Despite having plenty of water in the Elm
Creek watershed, Davis said the town continues to pump water from
a well field.
“We are not out of the woods,”
he said.
Ballinger officials also are concerned about
their water supply because Lake Ballinger has only 5 ¤
feet of water that can be pumped for drinking use, said city administrator
Tommy New. Should the lake not begin filling appreciably by January,
Ballinger will siphon water from Lake Spence, he said.
Contact regional writer John
Starbuck at (800) 588-6397, 676-6728 or starbuckj@abinews.com.
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