Wichita City Council amends drought response plan ordinance
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – The Wichita City Council narrowly passed an amendment to the drought response plan ordinance. It passed 4-3.
The ordinance lets the city manager take multiple factors into consideration when determining the drought stage. Right now, it is based on the 12-month average water level at Cheney Reservoir. The amendment widens the criteria to include weather trends and water demands.
Before Tuesday, water restrictions would kick in when water levels were below 70% at Cheney Lake. At the start of last month, our 12-month average was right at 70.1%. After Tuesday’s vote, the city manager decides whether to implement Stage 2 drought restrictions, considering Cheney Lake water levels. However, Cheney residents in the area say they want stricter restrictions faster.
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Seeing Cheney low is a rare sight.
“The lowest I’ve seen the lake was in 2013 when it was eight feet low, so I would hate to see it get that low again,” said Cheney Lake Association President Jon Lovett.
Those living by the lake are limited in what they can do in the water this summer. Conditions are only getting worse.
“Despite all the storms that have passed through in the last couple weeks, it’s actually gone further down. We’re a little more than six feet low at the moment,” said Lovett.
Cheney is one of the sources from which the City of Wichita gets its water. That’s why, until Tuesday, drought restrictions were calculated based on Cheney’s water levels.
“The change today allowed the manager to take into account other factors as well. So if the water level at Cheney Lake was at a concerning rate but there was access to water in other areas, it may not need to go to a different level,” said City Council member Brandon Johnson.
The change was passed by just one vote, with Maggie Ballard, Mike Hoheisel, and Dalton Glasscock voting no.
“I believe we should’ve continued with our current plan and began to implement based on the Cheney Reservoir just to take precautionary measures,” said City Council member Dalton Glasscock.
“We’re putting off the inevitable. We need to concentrate on saving the water supply as much as we can right now,” said City Council member Mike Hoheisel.
Those living in Cheney want to ensure lake levels don’t dip much lower.
“The more aggressive they make the drought response plan, the better it will be for Cheney,” said Lovett.
Wichita may have to move to the next drought stage very soon. Right now, Wichita is in Stage 1 of its drought response plan. That means people are encouraged to cut down on water use.
Stage 2 marks the start of mandatory water restrictions.
In Stage 2, people who use city water would only be able to water their lawns once a week and only on specific days, in the mornings and evenings. People who don’t follow restrictions could be fined in Stage 2.
Council members say that although we’re still in Stage 1, the City is focusing on water-saving measures.
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“We’ve been planting more natural grasses with new builds and medians and stuff like that, so we’re trying to take every step we can to really permanently reduce our water intake,” said Johnson.
Johnson says the City’s also turned off all its decorative fountains since Stage 1 started last year, and splash pads turn on with a button and turn off automatically.
Council members weren’t able to give an exact timeline for when tighter restrictions will be coming, but they did say the changes will likely be coming soon.
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