Urgent Public Notice: Stage 3 Water Restrictions Active in Georgetown, Texas

The following is a Press Release from The City of Georgetown Government

Outdoor watering is prohibited at least through Monday, July 17

Due to sustained high water use nearing system treatment capacity, the City of Georgetown is temporarily enacting and enforcing Stage 3 of the Drought Contingency Plan effective July 14-17, 2023.

Watering with an irrigation system or hose-end sprinkler is prohibited during this time. The City will decide early next week whether to extend or increase these restrictions.

The water is safe to drink. Eliminating outdoor water usage is critical to keeping our water safe and avoiding boil water notices.

“We need every one of our water customers to immediately stop outdoor watering, at least through Monday,” Georgetown Mayor Josh Schroeder said. “Conserving water this weekend is critical to giving our system enough time to recover, so we can lift these temporary restrictions, but we won’t know for sure until Monday.”

Georgetown water customers must turn off all irrigation systems effective immediately. City leaders are making direct contact with large developers, homeowner associations, and high-water users and informing them that they must stop watering outdoors during this time.

All City splash pads and City facility irrigation systems will be turned off. City-maintained pools will remain open, as water use is minimal and must be done to maintain operations and sanitation.

Over the past two weeks, water production from the City’s water treatment plants has exceeded 90 percent of capacity on multiple days, triggering an immediate need to conserve water to allow our system to recover.

During the summer months, 75 percent of the water produced each day by water treatment plants is used for lawn and landscape irrigation.

“While irrigation is the bulk of the issue, we also have not been receiving the full, contracted amount of treated water from the City of Leander,” City Manager David Morgan said. “Between conservation and some additional capacity coming online this weekend, we are hopeful we will not have to extend Stage 3 restrictions beyond Monday.”

This call for limiting water use only applies to City of Georgetown water customers. See a map of Georgetown’s water utility here. Round Rock water customers west of I-35 and all City of Leander water customers also are prohibited from outdoor watering this weekend due to treatment and supply limitations.