2018 Drought ready?

[bucktalk]

It appears as though a few forecasters are predicting a very dry spring/summer and above average temps. Should their predictions ring true I hope city water/administration are developing plans for the 'just in case' scenario. One would hope we'd learn about being prepared for possible drought conditions. Please!

[stile99]

To be perfectly honest at the risk of perhaps being too blunt, if people haven't figured out how to be prepared by now, what more can be done? I think we've moved past focusing on education and need to start focusing on enforcement. Stage 1 is (supposedly) permanently in effect now, and has been for some time (five years I think?). And yet on any given day you can drive around and see so many violations, many of them businesses who runs the sprinklers on a timer and can be seen watering when it is raining.

[king183]

To be perfectly honest at the risk of perhaps being too blunt, if people haven't figured out how to be prepared by now, what more can be done? I think we've moved past focusing on education and need to start focusing on enforcement. Stage 1 is (supposedly) permanently in effect now, and has been for some time (five years I think?). And yet on any given day you can drive around and see so many violations, many of them businesses who runs the sprinklers on a timer and can be seen watering when it is raining.

Educational efforts like these are inherently continuous endeavors. We have to constantly be teaching people how to prepare for two reasons. First, in a growing state or city, a segment of the population, whether they are new residents, school children, or immigrants, for example, may have not previously learned best practices or expectations. Second, the best practices may have changed over time and new ideas or codes need to be implemented or adopted. So, continuous education is necessary and worthwhile.

The people you seem frustrated with--rightfully so, in my opinion--are those who simply ignore the codes, despite being fully aware of them and the reasoning behind them. In those cases, the city needs to be almost draconian in its enforcement--something about which it's currently relatively lackadaisical.

[stile99]

To be clear, I'm not suggesting abandoning education efforts. Merely removing primary focus from that and turning it to enforcement. New residents who get a water bill get the same inserts as everyone else, renters who have water included (something rarely seen in apartments, let alone houses with lawns to be maintained) should have it, if not necessarily as part of the lease itself, included in the documents signed at initial lease. These wouldn't be new efforts, and on top of these there's the website available to the public as well as ads/commercials. Leaving the question of what "more" could be done still unaddressed.

I agree entirely the city doesn't appear to be doing much (if any) enforcement, hence the suggestion they put a little more focus towards that effort.

[Plutonic Panda]

I agree with Stile that they need to have better enforcement. During the last drought I couldn’t believe at night it seemed the streets would turn into rivers sometimes with not only were their sprinklers watering concrete and just flooding yards but often you’d see sprinkler heads broken and water shooting 10 ft into the street and it seemed like they never got fixed.

As much as I love greenery, I just don’t OKC should be using that across the city. In some areas, sure. But in a most cases I wish they’d xeriscape and provide more info to the public and support xeriscaping privately.

[catch22]

My apartment has included water, so I never see a bill. And while I try to be mindful of my consumption, I doubt everyone is on the same page. I agree, it would be a good idea for the city to encourage apartments to pass the word on to their tenants.

[pw405]

Some parts of Oklahoma are in a very bad drought. We're pretty lucky so far in OKC, but the last few months certainly have been very dry:


Thankfully, Hefner is currently at 94% capacity and Draper is at 88%:
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/ok/nwis/uv?site_no=07159550
https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=07229445


Now, I'm not against watering your yard PROPERLY. I irrigate my lawn but I go to great efforts to ensure the sprinkler heads are aligned and not watering the street! So many businesses have such wasteful sprinkler systems!

The OKC Connect app finally lets you report irrigation violations. I recently reported a church that was watering a busy intersection one morning when it was 20° outside. I attached a picture to the report and it took all of ~45 seconds to do. They city responded within 72 hours with the following:


Quote Originally Posted by Location: xxxx
Case Number xxxxx

We received a response on the request you reported to the City's Action Center, on xxxdatexxxx.

The Case was assigned to xxxEmployeeNamexxx who responded: xxxxxx was issued a citation for running their sprinkler system during freezing weather. Water conservation staff has also spoken to the location and they promised to not water during freezing weather. If the problem continues, please submit another action center request.

You may call the 297-2535 or email us at [email
action.center@okc.gov[/email], if you have questions or need additional information about your request.

We appreciate you for being an extra pair of eyes and ears for us in the community. The City works best when people like you take the time to let us know about an issue that may need to be addressed.

Sincerely,

Action Center Staff
(405) 297-2535