Wichita changes how it imposes mandatory watering restrictions. Here’s the new plan
Wichita will no longer have an automatic trigger to implement once-a-week lawn and gardening restrictions when Cheney Reservoir levels dip below a 69% 12-month average.
It will now be up to City Manager Robert Layton to determine when Wichita enters phase two of its drought response at the recommendation of Public Works and Utilities Director Gary Janzen and his staff.
The City Council approved the change on a 4-3 vote Tuesday.
Mayor Lily Wu and council members Becky Tuttle, J.V. Johnston, and Brandon Johnson voted in favor while Maggie Ballard, Mike Hoheisel and Dalton Glasscock voted against it.
A 2013 drought ordinance had said watering restrictions would automatically start when 12-month average water levels at Cheney Reservoir dip below 69% full. April’s average was 69%, and a reading last week was 67.14% full.
Janzen said voluntarily adopting water conservation strategies could help the city avoid imposing mandatory restrictions, at least for a while.
“If we could get everyone in the community to go to watering two to three times a week as opposed to watering every single day, it would have a huge impact on where we are at currently with water usage, impact on Cheney, impact overall,” Janzen said.
He said the city has started reaching out to homeowners associations to discuss potential changes to covenants that have strict standards for keeping lawns lush and green.
Hoheisel said in spite of the advances the city has made in becoming more drought-resistant since 2013, he’s not convinced moving away from the automatic trigger is the responsible decision.
“I have concerns about changes to the plan. Currently, our response is well-defined as far as the water levels,” Hoheisel said.
A city staff report states that “If the current drought continues, and the [drought response plan] restrictions are enacted, significant revenue reduction will occur.”
“It’s water and sewer utility revenues. Because sewer utility is based on water usage,” Layton said after the meeting. “So if there’s a significant drop, I think what they’re saying is if you get into serious phase two, three restrictions and have a significant drop in water usage, that will challenge us from a revenue standpoint.”
For now, Wichita remains in phase one of its drought response. If mandatory restrictions are implemented at some point, they will apply not only to Wichita residents but also to water customers from surrounding cities and rural water districts.
The drought ordinance splits the city into quadrants and specifies which city water customers can water when under stage two.
Customers northwest of the Central and Broadway intersection may use outdoor water on Mondays
Customers northeast of Central and Broadway may use outdoor water on Tuesdays
Customers southwest of Central and Broadway may use outdoor water on Wednesdays
Customers southeast of Central and Broadway may use outdoor water on Thursdays
Watering would have to be done in the evening or the early morning. The ordinance does not restrict the use of water outdoors for other purposes, including filling private pools.
Car washes, golf courses and other businesses that rely on outdoor water to make their money would be exempt from the otherwise mandatory restriction, as would people with food-producing gardens that are hand- or drip-watered.
This story was originally published June 18, 2024 at 6:27 PM.