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For Immediate Release: September 28, 2006
Contact: Jim Foster
Director of Public Works
Phone: (972) 769-4128
REMINDER: Watering Variances not Granted for Establishing Winter Ryegrass
Stage Three Watering Restrictions Will Apply
Watering variances will not be granted under Plano’s Stage Three outdoor watering restrictions for establishing winter ryegrass. Under Stage Three restrictions, outdoor turf watering is limited to once per week.
"Winter rye must be watered four to six times per day for several weeks to get it established, and we just don't have the water supply for that this year" stated Lorrie Reeves, Water Education Coordinator for the City of Plano. "It is a sad truth, but all our landscapes will have to continue to look a bit brown until the drought subsides, the lakes fill up and we begin getting our regular amounts of rainfall again. The good news is, if watering is done properly (one inch per week) most native plant life will survive this drought."
"Plants and grasses that are not native or adapted to the North Texas area are at risk," continued Ms. Reeves. "The maintenance of high-water using plants during this drought can significantly impact our water consumption and most agree that Stage 4, where outdoor watering would be banned altogether, is not a place any of us want to go."
Both Lake Lavon and Lake Chapman, the region’s water sources, remain critically low necessitating large amounts of rainfall to return to conservation levels. While no one can predict how much rain we'll get over the next few seasons, predictions are North Texas will remain under strict watering restrictions through summer 2007.
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