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Drought Unearths Inequities in N. Texas Cities: Watering Restrictions Vary Wildly Across Region

Posted on: Monday, 12 June 2006, 03:00 CDT

By Kristen Holland, The Dallas Morning News

Jun. 12--Dallas resident Peggy Gormley shakes her head as she looks across her dry lawn to the lush, emerald green yards just across Westside Drive in Highland Park.

It just takes one look at her front yard to know she doesn't water often, she joked.

"Not more than once a week," she said proudly. "Some of them water every day."

With no rain on the horizon and water restrictions being enacted throughout the region, water is a hot commodity. A few cities, such as Highland Park and University Park, haven't enacted restrictions, though.

That unsettles some Dallas residents, who must watch their yards die while neighbors in the Park Cities -- in some cases right across the street -- can water around the clock.

"It bothers me for them to turn their sprinklers on full-blown at 12 o'clock," said Diane Roberts, who lives on the south side of Armstrong Avenue in Dallas. The north side of the street is in Highland Park.

The border between Dallas and the Park Cities isn't the only area where neighbors must comply with very different water restrictions. Homeowners along Dallas' southern border are in similar straits because DeSoto, Duncanville and Lancaster -- all served by Dallas Water Utilities -- have no water restrictions.

Dallas' ordinance isn't as restrictive as those in some Collin County cities.

Dallas prohibits landscape watering from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. but doesn't specify which days or for how long residents can water. Like the Park Cities, Dallas doesn't receive water from the North Texas Municipal Water District, and spring rains left its five reservoirs in relatively good shape.

Prolonged drought has drawn down Lake Lavon, which is the North Texas water district's primary source, so much that the district recently asked its 60 or so cities and customers to limit landscape watering to once a week.

Grapevine Lake, the sole water source for Highland Park and University Park, is about six feet below normal.

Though Highland Park hasn't activated water restrictions since 2000, town officials say they're trying to curb use.

Residents are required to have sensors on irrigation systems to prevent them from operating when it rains or during a freeze. And the town, along with University Park and the Park Cities Municipal Water District, updated its conservation and drought contingency plans last year, said James Fisher, Highland Park's secretary and director of public works.

Fletcher Ward, who lives on the Highland Park side of Armstrong, said homeowners could also get in trouble if water flows into the street. "Everyone pretty much uses common sense," he said.

That said, some Highland Park residents questioned why the town hadn't initiated water restrictions. "It's been so hot," said Michelle Brown, who lives in West Highland Park.

Mrs. Roberts, from the Dallas side of Armstrong, also questions Highland Park's policies.

"We all have to be aware that we probably are in the midst of a drought and must do everything to save water," she said.

Highland Park resident Wendy Crafton takes another approach altogether. She acts like there are restrictions in place.

"I just kind of do it self-imposed," she said. "My sprinkler system goes off every other day and it's at like 5 a.m. I self-water my pots twice a week."

"So far, so good," she said.

It's much of the same in University Park, where city leaders have encouraged conservation but haven't enacted voluntary watering restrictions.

Dallas resident Bob Grimes, who lives three homes west of Highland Park, stopped short of criticizing the town's lack of formal restrictions.

"I guess if I thought about it I'd have a problem," he said. "It ain't a city problem, it's a regional issue. We all draw from the same reserves."

Vigilia Clayton, a Mesquite resident who works in a home on Armstrong, was a bit more pointed in her criticism. She said the rules should be the same for everyone.

"It's unfair," she said. "The rich people can do whatever they want."

E-mail kholland@dallasnews.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Dallas Morning News

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Dallas Morning News

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