By Matt Ward—
Outdoor watering restrictions will stay the same for Fredericksburg residents, despite a slight uptick in well levels over the past several months.
City officials announced the decision — made by City Manager Kent Myers in conjunction with city staff — during Monday’s regular meeting of the Fredericksburg City Council.
“It looks like we’re off to a pretty good start with respect to rainfall,” Clinton Bailey, city director of public works and utilities, said, noting that the city is on track to return to historical rainfall averages after five years of falling short of 29 inches of rain for the year.
He added that water levels at both the city’s Knauth and Boerner well fields are more than four feet higher than they were in April 2014.
Despite the improvement, much of Gillespie County remains in “exceptional drought” state as defined by the Texas Water Development Board.
Stage 3 restrictions
Under Stage 3 restrictions, watering is allowed on designated days only, between 5-9 a.m. and 7-11 p.m., although customers may water on any day using a handheld hose with sprayer, bucket or drip irrigation during the designated times.
Weekend car washing in residential driveways is permitted, given that water is not wasted and washed down the street.
If citizens do see someone violating the water restrictions, they can call and report them to City Hall at 997-7521 or Code Enforcement Officer Annette Loth at 889-5841.
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