The Brazos River Authority has informed customers accessing water from Granger Lake that a Stage 1 Drought Watch has been declared.
The drought watch is the result of the drier than normal conditions in this portion of the Brazos River basin and is a response to drought trigger levels established by the BRA's Drought Contingency Plan.
One of the trigger points for Granger Lake is an index rating equal to or less than -2.4 on the Palmer Hydrologic Drought Index (PHDI). The PHDI takes into consideration soil moisture, precipitation, reservoir and groundwater levels to rate the impact of long-term drought. The most recent monthly PHDI that was published early this month indicates that the reservoir reached the -2.4 trigger point.
The goal of the Stage 1 Drought Watch is a voluntary reduction of 5% of the water use that would have occurred in the absence of any drought contingency measure and to raise awareness of the developing drought situation.
The BRA has requested that customers who obtain their water supply from Lake Granger consider the following actions:
• activate their individual Drought Contingency Plan;
• increase public education efforts on ways to reduce water use;
• notify customers of actions being taken; and
• any other actions appropriate in their individual situation.
Customers affected by the Stage 1 Drought Watch include customers receiving water from the East Williamson County Regional Water Supply System, the city of Taylor, Jonah Water Special Utility District and Lone Star Regional Water Authority.
The BRA's Drought Contingency Plan provides for several lake level triggering criteria, based on four levels of potential drought conditions. If Stage II triggering criteria be met, both BRA customers and the general public will be notified. Customers will be asked to reduce water consumption by 10% or more depending on conditions at that time.
