City Council to review water usage plan that exempts food-producing gardens

Gardeners will claim a victory Tuesday if the Wichita City Council approves an amended drought strategy.

Food-producing gardens that utilize drip irrigation or hand watering would be exempt from watering restrictions until the city reaches drought crisis levels under an amended plan returning to the council.

The new plan by council members Jeff Longwell and James Clendenin is a nod to those who rely on their annual gardens to grow food, council members said.

The plan is in response to the looming water shortage earlier this year, when the city’s water supply was threatened as the region moved into the third year of a major drought.

“I might suggest that we add some kind of language for those types of opportunities – community gardens, people growing their own food,” Longwell said last week. “I would think we’d want to address that.”

“It’s concerning to me, too,” Clendenin added. “My thought is that at least in Stage 3 we be able to still allow irrigation if you’re irrigating a certain way. Although I don’t know how you’d police that.

“But if we’re at 35 percent in Cheney (Reservoir, a water emergency), I don’t think you need to address that situation.”

The proposed four-stage plan would be triggered at each stage by average yearly conservation pool levels at Cheney Reservoir, a primary water source for the city. It still contains some hefty fines – up to $500 for repeat violators – but stops short of the controversial $1,000 fine for overusers proposed last spring by city staff members.

The stages include:

Water levels remain good at Cheney this month, at about 98 percent in the conservation pool. As a result, the city is drawing a little more of its drinking water than usual from the lake.

This story was originally published October 6, 2013 at 9:16 PM with the headline "City Council to review water usage plan that exempts food-producing gardens."