Officials at the Brown County Water Improvement District (BCWID) said that although the water level at Lake Brownwood is declining, Stage 2 water restrictions that were implemented in June have helped the lake drop at a slower rate.

“Approximately, we have saved one foot of water out of that lake with the restrictions that we have put in place,” said BCWID General Manager Dennis Spinks.

According to the Texas Water Development Board website, one foot of height at Lake Brownwood, given the current level, equals more than 4000 acre feet or well over 1 billion gallons.

As the water level continues to drop, Lake Brownwood is nearing 15 feet below spillway level.    Officials estimate that Stage 3 water restrictions will be implemented within the next two weeks at the current rate of decline.

“We are approximately six-tenths from that 1410 elevation which will be Stage 3 of the Drought Contingency Plan,” Spinks said.  “The current rate of decline on the lake is about a tenth (of a foot) every two days; we’re looking at about 10-12 days (until Stage 3),” Spinks said.

The goal of Stage 3 restrictions will be to see a 10% decrease in water consumption.  According to the City of Brownwood, Stage 3 restrictions will include the following:

• All personal, non-household water use will be restricted to designated days between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.  Designated days defined as:  (a) Any odd number calendar day, odd numbered residences may water.  (b) Any even numbered calendar day, even numbered residences may water.
• Totally prohibit irrigation of City parks and outside school areas.  Hand held or a drip watering system of trees/shrubs is allowed on designated days.
• Commercial use of water to be reduced 20%. (Commercial users will be advised to eliminate outside watering to help reach this goal.)

More strict penalties and enforcement of violators will also be part of Stage 3.

Currently, the area is under Stage 2 water restrictions.

See the chart below that shows the current lake levels vs. the estimated level if no restrictions were implemented in June.