At the monthly board meeting of the Wimberley Water Supply Corp., WWSC Board of Directors voted to implement stage III conditions of the corporation’s drought contingency plan made effective June 1, 2013.

"Though some recent rains have helped, pumpage just hasn’t decreased enough over the past 60 days to remain in stage II based on our drought contingency plan," General Manager Garrett Allen said. "We haven’t gotten to where we need to be (as far as monthly pumpage for March and April) and the summer months are here so we must move into the next stage to follow our own plan.

"May and june pumpage along with any additional rainfall numbers will be addressed at the end of June to determine any possible change in the current stage condition," he added.

Water use restrictions are as follows:

• Irrigation of landscaped areas shall be limited to Sundays and Thursdays for customers will street addresses ending in an even number and Saturdays and Wednesdays for customers with street addresses ending in an odd number between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. and between 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. and shall be by means of hand-held hoses with positive shut-off nozzle, hand-held buckets or drip irrigation. Hose-end sprinklers or permanently installed sprinkler systems are prohibited at all times.
• Use of water to wash any motor vehicle, motorbike, boat, trailer, airplane or other vehicle is prohibited.
• Use of water to add to any indoor or outdoor swimming pools, wading pools, or Jacuzzi-type pools is prohibited. 75% of swimming pool water surface must be covered when pool is not in use to minimize evaporation.
• Operation of any ornamental fountain or pond for aesthetic or scenic purposes is prohibited.
• Wimberley Water Supply Corporation restricts the use of water from hydrants to firefighting, related activities or other activities necessary to maintain public health, safety and welfare.
• All restaurants are prohibited from serving water to patrons except upon request of the patron.

Penalties for violations:

• First Violation: The customer/member will be notified by a verbal and/or written notice of their specific violation and their need to comply with the Drought Contingency Plan regulations. The notice will show the amount of penalty to be assessed for continued violations.
• Second Violation: Wimberley Water Supply Corporation will assess a penalty of $50.
• Subsequent Violations: Wimberley Water Supply Corporation will assess an additional penalty (not to exceed six times the minimum monthly bill) for each violation occurring after the Second Violation. Wimberley Water Supply Corporation may also install a flow-restricting device in the customer/member’s meter service to limit the amount of water that will pass through the member in a 24-hour period. The costs of this procedure will be for the actual work and equipment and shall be paid by the customer/member.
• Termination: Wimberley Water Supply Corporation may terminate water service for up to 7 consecutive days for continuing violation(s) after penalties are assessed. Service will remain off until any delinquent penalty or other assessment is fully paid including a charge for reconnection.

Any person, including a person classified as a water customer of the Wimberlley Water Supply Corporation, in apparent control of the property where a violation occurs or originates shall be presumed to be the violator, and proof that the violations occurred on the person’s property shall constitute a rebuttable presumption that the person in apparent control of the property committed the violations, but any such person shall have the right to show that he/she did not commit the violations. Parents shall be presumed to be responsible for violations of their minor children and proof that a violation, committed by a child, occurred on the property within the parents’ control shall constitute a rebuttable presumption that the parent committed the violations, but any such parent may be excused if he/she proves that he/she had previously directed the child not to use the water as it was used in violation of this Plan and that the parent could not have reasonable knowledge of the violations.

Call 512-847-2323 for questions or visit the WWS website at www.wimwat.com.