Marble Falls revises water fines

Marble Falls City Council recently revised the drought ordinance to include a list of higher fines meant to discourage excess local irrigation of commercial and residen tial landscapes.

By a 5-0 vote, the council approved the higher fines for local water-use violations during the June 4 meeting. The Lower Colorado River Authority manag es Lake Buchanan and

Lake Travis, the Marble Falls main surface water sources. Due to persistent drought through several previous months, LCRA officials have requested Marble Falls and other customers to reduce their water use by 20%.

“LCRA is kind of setting the boundaries,” Mayor Dave Rhodes said. “They have asked us to work with them. We need to get serious about it.”

Council member Griff Morris agreed.

“It is long overdue,” Morris said.

The Marble Falls drought plan (in concert that local businesses and inhabitants follow mandatory conservation measures for valid reasons, Assistant City Manager Russell Sander told The Highlander.

According to its LCRA contract, Marble Falls is limited to draw 7,000 acre feet of water per year from lakes Buchanan and Travis. One acre-foot of water is equal to one acre of land below one foot of water.

To comply with LCRA wishes, Marble Falls allows outdoor watering between midnight and 10 a.m. and between 7 p.m. and midnight during certain days, according to whether the last number of a commercial or residential street address is an even or odd number.

That is to say, watering is permitted Monday for commercial, even-numbered addresses; Tuesday for residential, odd-numbered addresses; Thursday for residential, even-numbered addresses and; Friday for commercial, odd-numbered addresses. Public schools may conduct outdoor watering only Wednesdays at no specific time.

Currently, the city drought contingency plan is operating at Stage 3, which limits outdoor watering to one day per week during specific time frames.

According to city documents, the new list of fines indicates the city plans to issue one warning letter to commercial or residential customers following a regular audit by meter or observation of water-use that violates Stage 3 restrictions.

After the warning letter is issued, subsequent violations would incur higher fines ranging from $50 to $2,000 for second, third and fourth offenses.

Also, the city ordinance authorizes the council to impose termination of water service upon a fifth violation. Furthermore, a higher reconnection fee of $100 would be imposed on violators who have had water service terminated four or more times during 12 months after their first violation.