AND THE WINNER OF THE LOCAL WATER-USE RESTRICTIONS DERBY IS . . . League City, with these dry, dry, Stage 5 drought prohibitions: No washing your car; no refilling your pool; no spraying water for dust control; restaurants can’t bring diners water unless they ask for it; and no running those sprinklers or garden hose, day or night. Also in the no-watering-your-lawn-no-matter-what-day-it-is zone: Galveston [KHOU 11 News; restrictions]
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2011, year of the League City cracked slabs
The winner of the most confusing restrictions is Houston. Between 8 pm and 10 am. Between 8 pm and 10 am of which day?
Help for the helpless (thanks to KHOU.com):
Residents at even-numbered street addresses can water their lawns on Sundays and Thursdays, between the hours of 8 p.m. and 10 a.m. Residents with odd-numbered addresses can water on Saturdays and Wednesdays, between the hours of 8 p.m. and 10 a.m.
Check those numbers on the front of your house or on your mailbox!
My guess is that if your day to water is Wednesday, for example, then you can water from midnight to 10am that day, or from 8pm until midnight. But you happen to leave your sprinklers on past midnight that day, then it’s citation time!
It’s confusing and frustrating, yes. But I expect no less from a City of Houston government that’s allowing its own water line leaks (with water streaming up from below the pavement) to go unrepaired for weeks at a time. We the homeowners and taxpayers must take extra measures to conserve water, while they don’t seem to be in any hurry to prevent millions of gallons of water (unmetered, by the way) to escape out of the distribution system.
I am all for rationing water in needy times but the alternate day thing doesn’t make any sense to me. Per instructions from a landscaper I know, I only water my patch of grass once a week, a deep soaking. I do that on Saturdays. Yeah, I can easily change my routine to Sunday but how does that make a lick of difference?
@ beetle – I think you are right about having 10 hours to water from the wee hours until 10, and then another four hours at night. Consider, though, that there is much less evaporation before the full heat of the day comes upon us, and after sundown – so this is actually sensible, and even accommodates people who are rigidly correct about when to water roses. I’ve been kinda following these hours anyway, just to avoid shooting the water bill any higher than need be.
One word: Xeriscape.
We are living in a future desert, like Turkey & Lebanon.
@ Heights Life – the alternate day thing spreads out the load on the system and keeps the pressure from dropping a bunch (like it used to routinely do in the summer when I was a kid).
water rationing is for the greater good of us all….. let others regulate what we can an cannot do. we don’t know whats good for us anymore so why even bother? come on, peeps, conform to the mold.
I understand the rationale behind limiting irrigation to the cooler hours of the day/night, but the City’s rule is illogical on its face. You can’t say “Wednesday, between the hours of 8pm and 10am”, because that actually encompasses two days. Do they mean start on Tuesday evening and end on Wednesday morning, or start on Wednesday evening and end on Thursday morning? Splitting hairs, I know, but really they could have used a more precise description, e.g. “Wednesday, midnight to 10am and 8pm to midnight”
If people conforming to the mold means that EVERYONE’S irrigation systems won’t be going from 4-7 AM and I can actually have a decent shower and FLUSH MY TOILET before I go to work, I’m all for it. I will gladly dine/play/chill in the back yard with my dogs, but I do draw the line on other necessary activities.
It is quite apparent that movocelot has not only never visited Lebanon, but has never even seen pictures of it. Otherwise, he would not be describing a country that is mostly beautiful mountains as a desert. Lebanon is not Iraq or Saudi Arabia. In fact, it is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, when others are not destroying it.
Seriously, dude, learn your geography before cracking jokes. You look foolish.
You’re correct Dave – I’ve never been to Lebanon, and, I regret likening the place to a desert.
Certainly there is forest there.
But the cedars stands were significantly damaged by population growth and war over the past few generations. And the trees are still threatened by climate change as well as the neighbors’ aggression.
.
What I was thinking is that Lebanon WILL become a desert.
This is an opinion, of course.
Movo,
Nice recovery. ;) And you are correct about the decimation of the cedars. I hope it does not become an extension of the rest of that crappy desert, both ecologically and politically.
From beetle:
I understand the rationale behind limiting irrigation to the cooler hours of the day/night, but the City’s rule is illogical on its face. You can’t say “Wednesday, between the hours of 8pm and 10amâ€, because that actually encompasses two days. Do they mean start on Tuesday evening and end on Wednesday morning, or start on Wednesday evening and end on Thursday morning? Splitting hairs, I know, but really they could have used a more precise description, e.g.
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Hey. It confuses people. And they have to make up for all the lost revenue from the “on-again, off-again” red light cameras. Logic, which never applies to anything coming out of City Hall, would dictate that if you are to water on Wednesdays, you water from 8 pm on Wednesday night until 10 am Thursday morning. I guess it will be determined by the municipal court judges…
I sent a note to Janice Evans asking what the real hours are. Her response was 1200 midnight to 1000am, then 8pm to midnight. Be nice if the press release actually said that.
@ “it confuses people.”
Whaaaa? (something vaguely blasphemous involving a popular deity and either roller skates or a bicycle)…Crimeny, folks, are you that (naughty naughty naughty words) clock/calendar challenged????? Is the word “Tuesday” in there at all? Is the idea of “start in the morning, early, shut it off, then go back in the evening” that bloomin’ difficult?
That is all.