KILLEEN, Texas — Every year, Central Texans see water restrictions imposed in Killeen as lake levels drop and drought levels set in.
Periodically, the ordinance that dictates those restrictions being put in place has to be updated.
”From my understanding, it has to be updated every five years and the last time it was updated was in 2019,” said Jose Segarra, Killeen City Council Member.
“We’re renewing that update with a couple of changes.”
The main changes they're proposing, is to the water restriction stages themselves.
There are currently five stages of water restrictions.
Stage 1 is Mild, Stage 2 is Moderate, Stage 3 is Severe, Stage 4 is Critical, and Stage 5 is Emergency and only goes into effect if there is a major water line break or the water becomes contaminated.
If the council approves the changes, then Stage 4, the critical restriction level, disappears and Stage 5 becomes the new Stage 4.
”It’s based in past experiences, I think,” Segarra said.
“I don’t think we've ever reached level 4 from my understanding.”
It is at least very rare that Killeen reaches Stage 4 because of drought conditions, and they feel Stage 3 should be the highest.
That would make the Stage 5 emergency restriction level would become the new Stage 4.
It is also important to that violating Stage 2 or higher can come with a Class C misdemeanor and a fine of up to $2,000.
I reached to the City to see if anyone was cited for violating water restrictions, and they said that 171 people were warned last year and became compliant, but nobody was required to pay a fine or charged with a misdemeanor during last year’s water restrictions.
