By N. Bradford
Despite recent rains, Pearland remains under water restrictions, city leaders reminded the public Monday evening.
Under Stage 2 drought restrictions, city residents are limited to watering lawns on the days they have trash service scheduled. These mandatory restrictions are due to the city’s ability to meet water demand of residents.
“In the midst of this drought, we were pushing the capacity of our system,” City Manager Trent Epperson said. “When we went to (Stage 1) voluntary restrictions, we saw a slight moderation in usage, but it wasn’t until we went to mandatory that we saw the drop we needed to see to ensure the integrity of our system.”
Over the past two weeks, the area has seen about three inches of rain.
“I was notified today that we went from ‘exceptional drought’ to ‘extreme drought,’” Epperson said. “That’s an improvement, but still, we’re in an extreme drought.”
Level 2 restrictions have been in place since Aug. 30. Under these, watering lawns must be on trash days only and between 7 p.m. and 9 a.m. Violations of restrictions can result in a fine of up to $2,000.
“A lot of people think since we’ve had some recent rains that we should be out of drought conditions, but water production and other things take precedent,” Mayor Kevin Cole said.
The good news, city officials say, is that a new surface water plant is expected to be up and running in early 2024 and two water wells currently under rehabilitation will be online by the end of the year.
“Next summer we’ll have about another 13 plus million gallons available to us per day,” Epperson said.
For more information or to read the full drought plan, visit Pearlandtx.gov/drought.
