PEARLAND, Texas — A month after the city of Houston enacted Stage One of its drought plan, Pearland is following its lead.
City leaders blame continually high water usage combined with the ongoing drought and said they’re in constant communication with their water production teams.
They said they meet three times a week to go over the numbers and decide whether to enact drought restrictions and how far to take them.
At one Pearland water production facility, it was another busy day for its staff and the lines bringing water to and from homes and businesses.
"We’re running our systems hard," Pearland Deputy City Manager Trent Epperson said.
Epperson said the prolonged drought has caused the soil to shrink and swell.
"Thus far, we are seeing elevated main breaks, but we’re able to keep up with those," Epperson said.
It’s also led to growing water demand in a city that’s seen sky-high growth in recent years.
City officials are asking residents and businesses to avoid watering during the hottest parts of the day. They request people only water in the evenings on the days they get trash service.
The city also asks people hold off adding new landscaping until drought conditions improve. They also ask that people minimize, or stop, non-essential water usage.
"We ask that they do because if we don’t see the demand increases start to moderate and level off, then we’ll have to look at going to more mandatory restrictions," Epperson said.
Many residents said they are complying with the voluntary requests.
“We’re cutting down on water,” one Pearland resident said.
"I do not water my lawn," another said.
The community appears to be coming together to hit the city's conservation goal on the first shot.