(a)
The purpose and scope of this plan is to establish the city policies
and procedures in the event of shortages or delivery limitations in
the city water supply, or in case of equipment malfunctions or similar
situations that affect the city’s drought contingency plan and
shall apply to all customers that obtain their water from the city
water supply system.
(b)
This drought contingency plan describes the conditions that require
short-term water demand management in the city and establishes policies
and procedures that offer strategies for a timely and effective response.
In general, such a response would be needed when water use in Hutchins
approaches the system’s supply, or delivery capacity. Examples
include drought conditions, unusually high-water demands, unforeseen
equipment or system failure, or contamination of a water supply source.
(c)
In order to conserve the available water supply and protect the integrity
of water supply facilities, with particular regard for domestic water
use, sanitation, and fire protection, and to protect and preserve
public health, welfare, and safety and minimize the adverse impacts
of water supply shortage or other water supply emergency conditions,
the city hereby adopts the following regulations and restrictions
on the delivery and consumption of water.
(d)
Water uses regulated or prohibited under this drought contingency plan (the plan) are considered to be nonessential and continuation of such uses during times of water shortage or other emergency water supply condition are deemed to constitute a waste of water which subjects the offender(s) to penalties as defined in section 13.10.001 of this plan.
(e)
This drought contingency plan meets Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality (TCEQ) rules of development and minimum requirements for the
drought contingency plans for municipal water suppliers per Texas
Administrative Code (TAC) title 30, part 1, chapter 288, subchapter
B, rules.
(Ordinance 2019-1089 adopted 9/3/19)
The city will periodically provide the public with information
about the plan, including information about the conditions under which
each stage of the plan is to be initiated or terminated and the drought
response measures to be implemented in each stage. This information
will be provided by means of, but not limited to, an appropriate combination
of the following items:
(1)
Public service announcements on radio, television, and City of Dallas
on-line news channels.
(2)
Newspaper and announcements.
(3)
Interviews on radio and television programs.
(4)
Press releases, media alerts and social media.
(5)
Billboards.
(6)
Website.
(7)
Email and telephone notifications to customers.
(8)
Mailed water bill inserts.
(9)
Distribution of fact sheets, brochures, and pamphlets.
(10)
Mass mailings of notification letters.
(11)
Hutchins customer service representatives.
(12)
Public meetings and hearings.
(13)
Public education seminars.
(Ordinance 2019-1089 adopted 9/3/19)
The water service area of the city is located within the region
C water planning group and the city will provide a copy of this plan
to the region C water planning group and will provide updates as they
occur.
(Ordinance 2019-1089 adopted 9/3/19)
The city administrator, or his/her designee, is hereby authorized
and directed to implement the applicable provisions of this plan upon
determination that such implementation is necessary to protect public
health, safety, and welfare. The city administrator, or his/her designee,
shall have the authority to initiate or terminate drought or other
water supply emergency response measures as described in this plan.
(Ordinance 2019-1089 adopted 9/3/19)
The provisions of this plan shall apply to all persons, customers,
and property utilizing water provided by the city. The terms “person”
and “customer” as used in the plan include individuals,
corporations, partnerships, associations, and all other legal entities.
(Ordinance 2019-1089 adopted 9/3/19)
For the purposes of this division, the following definitions
shall apply:
Water use for ornamental or decorative purposes such as fountains,
reflecting pools, and water gardens.
The amount of water storage as required by the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality (T.C.E.Q.) Rules and Regulations for Public
Drinking Water Systems.
Water use by a place of business such as retail establishments,
hotels and motels, restaurants, and office buildings.
Those practices, techniques, and technologies that reduce
the consumption of water, reduce the loss or waste of water, improve
the efficiency in the use of water, or increase the recycling and
reuse of water so that a water supply is conserved and made available
for future or alternative uses.
Any person, company, entity, or organization using water
supplied by the City of Hutchins.
Mayor, city administrator, public works director or other
designated person.
Water demand period as determined by the designated official.
Water use for personal needs or for household or sanitary
purposes such as drinking, bathing, heating, cooking, sanitation,
or for cleaning a residence, business, industry, or institution.
Micro irrigation with low volume and low-pressure release
of water through point source emitters or pressure compensating in-line
drip emitters.
A strategy or combination of strategies for temporary supply
and demand management responses to temporary and potentially recurring
water supply shortages and other water supply emergencies.
The use of water in processes designed to convert materials
of a lower order of value into forms having greater usability and
value, and the development of power by means other than hydroelectric
but does not include agricultural use.
The use of water by an establishment dedicated to public
service, such as a school, university, church, nursing home, hospital
or government facility. All facilities dedicated to public service
are considered institutional regardless of ownership.
Water used for the irrigation and maintenance of landscaped
areas, whether publicly or privately owned, including residential
and commercial lawns, gardens, golf courses, parks, and rights-of-way
and medians.
Water uses that are not essential nor required for the protection
of public, health, safety, and welfare, including:
Irrigation of landscape areas, including parks, athletic fields,
and golf courses, except otherwise provided under this plan;
Use of water to wash any motor vehicle, motorbike, boat, trailer,
airplane or other vehicle;
Use of water to wash down any sidewalks, walkways, driveways,
parking lots, tennis courts, or other hard-surfaced areas;
Use of water to wash down buildings or structures for purposes
other than immediate fire protection;
Flushing street gutters or permitting water to run or accumulate
in any gutter or street;
Use of water to fill, refill, or add to any indoor or outdoor
swimming pools or Jacuzzi-type pools;
Use of water in a human made water feature, including but not
limited to a fountain or pond for aesthetic or scenic purposes except
as necessary to support aquatic life;
Failure to repair a controllable leak(s) within a reasonable
period after having been given notice directing the repair of such
leak(s); and
Use of water from hydrants for construction purposes or any
other purposes other than firefighting and flushing of lines for regulatory
required testing and/or to maintain a potable water supply.
Water that is not intended or suitable for drinking and has
not been approved for human consumption.
An artificially created structure from which a jet, stream,
valves and emission devices or flow of water emanates and is not typically
utilized for the preservation of aquatic life.
Water that is suitable for drinking by the public.
Pounds per square inch.
A water pressure district or zone is an area of service supplied
by a water source or a number of sources that provides a constant
hydraulic gradient. Water delivery pressure is actually the difference
between the hydraulic grade line (e.g., storage tank’s water
surface elevation or pump station discharge pressure) and the ground
at the tap, less line losses or head loss from the flow of demands
to the area.
Water used for leisure and entertainment purposes. Examples
include but are not limited to swimming pools, Jacuzzi-type pools,
water theme parks, wading pools and water toys.
Refers to the maximum amount of water that can be delivered
to customers when considering reductions of delivery capacity based
on scheduled shutdowns of infrastructure and/or unforeseen shutdowns
of infrastructure, such as line breaks, equipment failure, etc.
A stream of water which overflows from a lawn or landscape
onto a street, sidewalk, parking lot or other impervious area for
a distance of more than 50 feet; or forms a puddle or pond to a depth
greater than one-quarter of an inch.
A permeable garden-type hose that is laid above ground that
provides irrigation at a slow and constant rate.
A structure that is used for swimming, bathing, or water
play, including all equipment and appurtenant facilities.
The Texas Commission of Environmental Quality.
A permanently located business that washes vehicles or other
mobile equipment with water or water-based products, including but
not limited to self-service carwashes, full-service carwashes, roll-over/in-bay
style carwashes, and facilities managing vehicle fleets or vehicle
inventory.
The city’s water supply source (City of Dallas/DWU)
and all infrastructure related to the delivery of water to customers.
(Ordinance 2019-1089 adopted 9/3/19)
(a)
The public works director, or his/her designee, shall monitor water
supply and/or demand conditions on a daily basis and shall determine
when conditions warrant initiation or termination of each stage of
the plan, that is, when the specified “triggers” are reached.
The public works director, or his/her designee, reserves the authority
to recommend that a stage be or not be initiated based on:
(b)
Upon recommendation of the public works director, the city administrator
may initiate, upgrade or downgrade a stage when the conditions triggering
that stage occur. Notification of the initiation or termination of
drought response stages will be made by the public works director,
or designee.
(c)
Public notification of the initiation or termination of drought response
stages shall be by means of publication in a newspaper, city’s
newsletter, email, text message, signs posted in public places, the
internet and other methods listed in this article.
(d)
The public works director, or his/her designee, shall notify directly,
or cause to be notified directly by fax, mail, email, or telephone,
the following individuals and entities as appropriate to the respective
drought stages:
(1)
Mayor and members of the city council.
(2)
City and/or county emergency management coordinator(s).
(3)
County judge and commissioner(s).
(4)
State disaster district/department of public safety.
(5)
Executive director of the TCEQ (required within five (5) business
days of the implementation of any mandatory restrictions).
(6)
Critical water users.
(7)
Parks/street superintendents and public facilities managers.
(e)
The public works director, or his/her designee, will coordinate initiation
or termination of drought stages with the City of Dallas. The City
of Dallas provides water to the City of Hutchins’ system under
a wholesale treated water customer contract. Initiation or termination
of a drought stage by the City of Dallas could trigger Hutchins to
initiate or terminate a drought stage.
(f)
The triggering criteria described below are based on the ability
of the city to deliver treated water to the customers. The triggering
conditions for short-term deficiencies limiting water supply are based
on the amount of water pumped each day and the percentage of water
stored in the ground and elevated storage tanks.
(Ordinance 2019-1089 adopted 9/3/19)
(a)
Stage 1 - Water awareness.
(1)
Triggering criteria.
If one or more occurs:
(B)
Distribution.
Continued potable water storage
depletion due to water demand or water pipeline breaks, pump or system
failures which hinder system ability to continue to supply water at
the demand encountered to all or part of the system.
(C)
Other.
Natural or manmade contamination of water
supply occurs.
(2)
Actions available.
Following is a menu of possible actions.
Specific actions taken during any drought situation will be determined
by the public works director. The public works director may also take
other actions not listed, if deemed necessary.
(A)
Initiate public education campaign to encourage reduced water use.
(B)
Identify high volume users and encourage voluntary reduction measures.
(C)
Encourage voluntary reductions in landscape watering.
(D)
Reduce city government use of water for street sweeping, washing
of vehicles and all other nonessential use as determined by the city
administrator, or designee.
(E)
Encourage less water use on construction projects.
(3)
Target reduction.
Achieve a 1-percent reduction in total
gallons per capita per day (GPCD).
(4)
Stage termination.
Stage 1 may be terminated when stage
1 conditions no longer exist and would be unlikely to recur upon termination.
(b)
Stage 2 - Water watch.
(1)
Triggering criteria.
One or more may apply:
(B)
Distribution.
Stage 1 voluntary restrictions fail
to alleviate continued potable water storage depletion.
(C)
Other.
Situations that limit distribution of water,
as determined by the public works director, or designee, such as:
(i)
Short- or long-term equipment failure or failure to maintain
20 psi at up to 200 locations or up to ten fire hydrants in a localized
area.
(ii)
Short-term deficiencies exist within an entire pressure district.
(iii)
Power failure or restrictions.
(iv)
Natural or manmade contamination of water supply occurs.
(2)
Actions available.
Following is a menu of possible actions.
Specific actions taken during any drought situation will be determined
by the public works director. The public works director may also take
other actions not listed, if deemed necessary.
(A)
Accelerate public information efforts to teach reduced water use.
(B)
Notify major water users and request voluntary water reductions.
(C)
Prohibit city government use of water for street washing, vehicle
washing, operation or ornamental fountains and all other nonessential
use as determined by the city administrator, or designee.
(D)
Request reduction in landscape watering by city government.
(E)
Encourage less water use on construction projects.
(3)
Target reduction.
Achieve a 5-percent reduction in total
gallons per capita per day (GPCD).
(4)
Stage termination.
Stage 2 may be terminated when stage
2 conditions no longer exist and would be unlikely to recur upon termination
(c)
Stage 3 - Water warning.
(1)
Triggering criteria.
One or more may apply:
(B)
Distribution.
Failure of stage 2 restrictions
to reduce usage below supply capability.
(C)
Other.
Situations that limit distribution of water,
as determined by the public works director, or designee, such as:
(i)
Long-term deficiencies in water supply within an entire pressure
district.
(ii)
Failure to maintain 20 psi at more than 300 service locations
or more than 15 fire hydrants in a localized area.
(iii)
Any unanticipated situations that limit distribution of water,
as determined by the public works director, or designee.
(iv)
Power failure or restrictions.
(v)
Natural or manmade contamination of water supply occurs.
(2)
Actions available.
Following is a menu of possible actions.
Specific actions taken during any drought situation will be determined
by the public works director. The public works director may also take
other actions not listed, if deemed necessary.
(A)
Initiate studies to identify solutions to the problems.
(B)
City administrator, or other designated official, announces commencement
of mandatory water reduction.
(D)
Construction water use limited to nonpeak hours as determined by
the designated official.
(E)
No watering on Tuesday or Friday.
(F)
As determined by the designated official, all landscape water use
including city government and schools, limited to specific hours.
(G)
Watering may be done at any time on specified days from a hand-held
hose, a bucket or drip irrigation system.
(H)
Continued implementation of restrictions identified in stages 1–2.
(3)
Exceptions.
Vehicles may be washed at commercial carwashes;
vehicles may be washed at home with water in a bucket or other container;
foundations may be watered with a hand-held or soaker hose.
(4)
Target reduction.
Achieve a 15-percent reduction in
total gallons per capita per day (GPCD).
(5)
Stage termination.
Stage 3 may be terminated when stage
3 conditions no longer exist and would be unlikely to recur upon termination.
(d)
Stage 4 - Water emergency.
(1)
(2)
Actions available.
Following is a menu of possible actions.
Specific actions taken during any drought situation will be determined
by the public works director. The public works director may also take
other actions not listed, if deemed necessary.
(3)
Exceptions.
(A)
Commercial car washing is prohibited between the hours of 2:00 p.m.
and 9:00 p.m. each day.
(B)
Landscape watering will be allowed during designated hours, as determined
by the public works director, once in five days, based upon the last
digit of the address (see this section for watering rotation).
(4)
Watering permitted.
Landscape watering schedule:
|
If address ends
|
Water on these days of the month
|
|---|---|
|
0 or 5
|
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30
|
|
1 or 6
|
1, 6, 11, 16, 21, and 26
|
|
2 or 7
|
2, 7, 12, 17, 22, and 27
|
|
3 or 8
|
3, 8, 13, 18, 23, and 28
|
|
4 or 9
|
4, 9, 14, 19, 24, and 29
|
Note: No landscape watering on the 31st of any month.
(5)
Special provisions.
(A)
Apartments, office building complexes or other property containing
multiple addresses will be identified by the lowest address. The public
works director will assign a number where there are no address numbers
or where it is not feasible to use an address number.
(B)
Foundations may be watered on any day of the week and at any time.
Foundations may be watered with a drip irrigation system, soaker hose
or a hand-held hose equipped with a positive shutoff nozzle.
(C)
Golf courses using treated water may adhere to the same five-day
rotational system, based on their addresses, (see this section for
watering rotation) except that greens may be watered only at a time
that has been determined by the public works director, or designee.
(D)
Construction water use will be prohibited between the hours of 2:00
p.m. and 9:00 p.m. each day.
(E)
Nurseries and public gardens may water plant stock only between the
hours of 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.
(F)
City parks and rights-of-way areas will comply with a five-day rotation
watering schedule with hours to be determined by the public works
director.
(6)
Target reduction.
Achieve a 25-percent reduction in
total gallons per capita per day (GPCD).
(7)
Stage termination.
Stage 4 may be terminated when stage
4 conditions no longer exist and would be unlikely to recur upon termination.
(e)
Stage 5 - Water crisis.
(1)
Triggering criteria.
If one or more occurs:
(B)
Distribution.
Failure of stage 4 restrictions
to reduce usage below supply capability.
(C)
Other.
(i)
Any unanticipated situations that severely limit distribution
of water, as determined by the public works director.
(ii)
Notification of mandatory restrictions from the City of Dallas
Water Utilities.
(iii)
Power failure or restrictions.
(iv)
Natural or manmade contamination of water supply occurs.
(2)
Actions available.
Following is a menu of possible actions.
Specific actions taken during any drought situation will be determined
by the public works director. The public works director may also take
other actions not listed, if deemed necessary.
(A)
Continued implementation of all restrictions from previous stages.
(B)
All commercial and residential landscape watering is prohibited.
(C)
Use of water to wash any motor vehicle, motorbike, boat, trailer
or other vehicle not occurring on the premises of a commercial vehicle
wash facility or commercial service stations is prohibited. Companies
with an automated on-site vehicle washing facility may wash its vehicles
at any time. Further, such washing may be exempt from these requirements
if the health, safety and welfare of the public are contingent upon
frequent vehicle cleansing, such as garbage trucks and commercial
vehicles used to transport food and perishables.
(D)
The filling, draining and refilling of existing swimming pools, wading
pools, Jacuzzi and hot tubs is prohibited except to maintain structural
integrity, proper operation and maintenance or alleviate a public
safety risk. Existing pools may add water to replace losses from normal
use and evaporation.
(E)
Permitting of new swimming pools, wading pools, water features, Jacuzzi
and hot tubs is prohibited.
(F)
Installation of new landscapes or turf areas is prohibited.
(G)
Operation of any water feature, ornamental fountain or pond that
uses potable water is prohibited except where supporting aquatic life
or water quality.
(3)
Exceptions.
(A)
Nurseries and golf courses may continue to water as restricted by
stage 3 measures. Foundation watering may also proceed as allowed
in stage 3.
(B)
Commercial and construction water users may be required to reduce
water use as determined by the public works director to maintain water
for health, sanitation and firefighting purposes.
(4)
Target reduction.
Achieve a 30-percent reduction in
total gallons per capita per day (GPCD).
(5)
Stage termination.
Stage 5 may be terminated when stage
5 conditions no longer exist and would be unlikely to recur upon termination.
(Ordinance 2019-1089 adopted 9/3/19)
Should the city’s water supply become contaminated by
natural or manmade causes, the city shall coordinate with local, State
and Federal agencies to ensure provision of potable water (bottled
or tanker truck) for domestic water use until the contamination is
mitigated.
(Ordinance 2019-1089 adopted 9/3/19)
