Georgetown holds water conservation expo amid drought concerns
GEORGETOWN, Texas - Water is the talk of the town at the Georgetown Public Library on Saturday.
Georgetown held its second water conservation expo ever.
"We saw the need to do this because we had so many customers with questions, and what better opportunity to bring in subject-matter experts from around our community and our region," said Tiffany Diaz, the regulatory and conservation manager for Georgetown.
Some Georgetown residents are no stranger to conserving.
"When it got down to one watering a week, it couldn't keep my St. Augustine alive," said David Loper, DC, a Georgetown resident.
Parts of the city saw stage 2 and stage 3 restrictions this past summer, mostly limiting irrigation use.
"Just remember that our water is a finite resource," said Diaz. "We can't make more of it."
The city hopes an event like this will start a conversation about water usage year round.
"So being mindful of how much we're using and how much we're putting on our grass is going to help," said Diaz
The need for conservation is exacerbated by the city's recent population boom.
"We have a lot of growth happening in the area and a lot of people are moving into this area from multiple places, and so this gives us the opportunity to educate them for what's going on in Central Texas," said Diaz
The city is also making efforts to prepare for its future neighbors.
Over the summer, the city signed an agreement with EPCOR, a utility company that could provide an additional 32 to 55 million gallons of treated groundwater per day by 2030.
According to a city report, Georgetown will need a new water source by then to avoid supply shortages.
The city said that the supply from EPCOR should meet demand through 2050.
MORE GEORGETOWN STORIES
- 2 suspects still at large after Georgetown crash, manhunt
- Georgetown man beats odds after diagnosis decades ago
- Georgetown boy in NYC ICU after birthday trip turned into medical emergency
The city is also building several new treatment plants.
One was completed this month.
The last plant is expected to be up and running by 2026.
Residents at the expo are eager to do their part too, because keeping water flowing takes a little effort from everyone.
"Especially with the explosive growth of Georgetown and the whole Austin, period," said Barber, who had a booth about water quality testing with Texas Master Naturalist. "We are using more water than we are receiving so we want to be able to support additional sources of water for Georgetown."
If you're a Georgetown resident wanting to cut back on water usage, the city recommends taking advantage of rebates, checking for leaks, looking into native plants, and using their online customer portal to track your usage.