Water Wise Denton
Stage 2 Drought Restrictions are officially lifted. We are very grateful to our community for reducing irrigation to one day a week while we were under restrictions. All necessary repairs have been completed and residents may now resume twice-per-week irrigation based on address. As a reminder, irrigation days are based on address and schedule is as follows:
Welcome to Water Wise Denton!!!
We are happy you are here. Water is our most precious resource, and Denton Water Utilities is dedicated to ensuring water security for our community today, and for our long term future. One way are ensuring water security, is by being a better steward of discretionary water use. Discretionary water use is water that is used for non-necessities. The largest discretionary water use is irrigation used to keep front lawns green. This specific use of water accounts for up to 70% of all water usage in the summer, unfortunately a large quantity of water is also wasted through summer irrigation. Misaligned sprinklers that water the pavement, and over watering (which creates shallow roots) can waste millions of gallons each day. B
Water security involves water supply, and water demand - and we need your help, but we also understand that it isn't fair for us to ask you to conserve without providing you the full picture. This website is created with the purpose of providing our community facts on how much water Denton is using day to day, and how that daily usage fits into the larger picture of how much water we actually have. We also understand that it isn't fair to ask our community to conserve, without providing information on how to do so.
Everyday, we will update the website with a few key pieces of information:
- Rain Totals: Our water utility tracks and monitors the rainfall patterns so that we can predict and understand if we are trending towards a drought situation long before it happens. We provide a chart showing this information, because we believe our community has the right to know what we know. Rainfall totals are an average for Denton, sometimes parts of Denton will receive rain, and other parts will not, but ultimately the rain received will make its way into our water supply lakes.
- Daily Water Usage: We track and monitor how much water is used daily. Our largest discretionary use of water is irrigation, which typically begins in the Spring, but as the temperature rises can become very problematic in the summer. In the last few years we have come very close to using as much water as we can produce, which puts us in a drought contingency scenario. We will track and monitor our Daily usages and rolling averages to show you how we are trending, and where that matches up against our drought stage triggers.
Every year water usage is highest in the summer and lowest in the winter. This is because the largest discretionary use is irrigation. Have you wondered how we stack up year to on our monthly totals? Here is our 13 month rolling average.
- Conservation Tips, Water Utility News and other information - In the News update section below, we will provide updates at least once a week on free resources for conservation classes, gardening tips, critical water news, and more.
Lastly, you have the ability to reach out to us with questions and suggestions, and we want to hear from you. We do our best to respond quickly, typically within 1 business day.
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Updated 3 Month Weather Outlook
Share Updated 3 Month Weather Outlook on Facebook Share Updated 3 Month Weather Outlook on Twitter Share Updated 3 Month Weather Outlook on Linkedin Email Updated 3 Month Weather Outlook linkThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (or NOAA) just released an updated outlook for May, June and July.
NOAA is still predicting another hotter than average beginning to summer. Now is a good time to plant and establish your waterwise perennials before the heat sets in.
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Do you know your water footprint?
Share Do you know your water footprint? on Facebook Share Do you know your water footprint? on Twitter Share Do you know your water footprint? on Linkedin Email Do you know your water footprint? link
Your water footprint is the amount of water you use daily. Most of us are aware of the water we directly use for drinking, showering, irrigation, cleaning and more. Many of us may not be aware that we use much more water indirectly, for example, it takes over 500 gallons of water to make a quarter-pound hamburger! It takes 2,500 gallons of water to make a pair of jeans! If you add up our direct and indirect usage, the average Texan has a 1,800 gallon per day water footprint!
If you are curious to learn about your water footprint check out this water footprint calculator: https://watercalculator.org/wfc2/q/household/
Videos
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Learn About Smart Irrigation Technology from a licensed irrigator
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Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
The contents of Part 1 contain:
• General Information: Importance? How much can be collected?
• Passive Rainwater Harvesting: Directing & slowing rainwater runoff
• Active Rainwater Harvesting: Collecting, storing, and directing rainwater
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Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
The 2nd part of the Rainwater Harvesting Training contains information on:
• Uses of Rainwater: Where and how to use rainwater?
• Components of a RWH System: Includes collection, storage, distribution, & improving water quality.
• Maintenance of the system and winter protection.
