Dateline: July 13, 2006

Hedley begins drought contingency plan

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Hedley residents are being asked to cut back on their water consumption after the Board of Aldermen implemented the first stage of that city’s drought contingency plan when they met in regular session, July 6.

City Secretary Randy Shaw said Tuesday that stage one of the plan does not have any penalties with it.

“It’s just voluntary; it’s not mandatory,” Shaw said. “Now, if Greenbelt goes to stage two their plan, there will be some tougher restrictions in our plan.”

Shaw said water usage in Hedley has fallen and noted that Monday’s consumption was about half of what it normally is.

The city’s goal with stage one is to reduce water usage by ten percent.

Hedley residents with street addresses ending with even numbers are being asked to limit the irrigation of landscaped areas to Sundays and Thursdays, and odd numbered addresses are limited to watering on Saturdays and Wednesdays.

The plan further restricts watering to the hours of midnight to 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. to midnight on the designated days. Residents are also asked to discontinue water use for non-essential purposes.

Greenbelt Water Authority, of which Hedley is a member, implemented stage one of its own drought contingency plan late last month. Greenbelt seeks to achieve a ten percent reduction in water consumption through a publicity campaign.

Greenbelt General Manager Bobbie Kidd said the reservoir level this week was down to 55.87 feet compared to 56.5 feet on June 26. But he also said increased public awareness is having an effect.

“We can see some difference already,” Kidd said. “Part of that is that everybody’s yard is pretty well burned up down south. They’ve stopped watering.”

The City of Clarendon has not yet triggered its drought contingency plan, and the subject was not a topic to be considered on Tuesday night’s city agenda.