For Fulshear homeowners trying to keep lawns and landscaping healthy through the late-summer heat, the city is asking for a little more attention to when—and how—water is being used.

The City of Fulshear activated Stage 1 of its Drought Contingency Plan beginning at midnight Monday, Aug. 31, placing voluntary limits on outdoor watering while also prohibiting several types of nonessential water use. City officials described the move as a proactive effort to reduce demand before conditions could require the city to advance to the more restrictive Stage 2.

For residents, the most immediate takeaway is simple: outdoor watering should be limited to two days per week based on whether a home or business has an odd- or even-numbered address, and watering should take place outside the hottest part of the day.

Fulshear Stage 1 Watering Schedule

Under the city's Stage 1 conservation measures, residents and businesses are being asked to follow this schedule:

• Odd-numbered addresses: Sunday and Thursday
• Even-numbered addresses: Wednesday and Saturday
• No scheduled watering: Monday, Tuesday and Friday

Customers are also asked to avoid outdoor watering between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. and to reduce other nonessential water use wherever practical.

The watering schedule is voluntary during Stage 1, but that does not mean every provision of Stage 1 is optional.

Several forms of nonessential water use are prohibited under Fulshear's drought plan, including washing sidewalks, driveways, parking lots and other hard surfaces; washing buildings except when immediately necessary for fire protection; using potable water for dust control; flushing gutters or allowing water to unnecessarily collect in streets; and failing to repair a controllable leak within a reasonable period after receiving notice.

That distinction is important for residents trying to understand what "Stage 1" means: the twice-weekly lawn-watering schedule is a conservation request, while certain wasteful uses of water are prohibited.

Why Fulshear Activated Stage 1 Now

The city said it continues to monitor water demand, system pressure and available water supply and chose to initiate Stage 1 before circumstances require moving to Stage 2.

Fulshear's adopted 2024 Drought Contingency Plan gives the city several reasons it may initiate Stage 1. Those include elevated daily water demand, distribution-system pressure concerns, problems affecting water-supply infrastructure or a determination by the mayor or designee that conditions such as weather, supply-system deficiencies or unforeseen circumstances make Stage 1 appropriate.

The plan establishes a 2% water-use reduction goal during Stage 1 compared with the amount of water that would otherwise have been used without drought contingency measures.

That percentage may sound modest, but conservation measures are designed to spread reductions across thousands of individual water users. A household shifting irrigation to its assigned days, repairing a leaking sprinkler head or skipping an unnecessary driveway wash may represent a small change on its own. Across a rapidly developing community, those individual decisions can collectively reduce pressure on the water system during periods of high demand.

Fulshear's drought planning is intended not only to conserve available water but also to protect supplies needed for essential purposes, including household use, sanitation and fire protection, while reducing the effects of high demand or other water-supply emergencies.

The City Is Cutting Water Use, Too

Residents are not the only ones being asked to conserve.

Fulshear said municipal operations are also being adjusted to reduce demand. The city is reducing nonessential municipal water use and landscape irrigation, limiting water-main flushing where appropriate, increasing efforts to detect and repair leaks, and working with major water users to encourage voluntary reductions.

For homeowners, this makes Stage 1 less about giving up outdoor water use altogether and more about using water intentionally—particularly when irrigation systems can account for substantial outdoor use during hot weather.

Following the designated schedule can also give residents an opportunity to check sprinkler systems while they are running. Broken heads, overspray onto streets and sidewalks, or irrigation continuing long enough for water to flow down a curb can waste water without providing additional benefit to landscaping.

What Stage 1 Means—and What Could Happen Next

Stage 1 is the first level of Fulshear's drought response and is designed to encourage conservation before stronger measures become necessary.

Under the city's drought plan, Stage 1 may be lifted after the circumstances that prompted it no longer prevail for seven consecutive days. The mayor or an official designee may also terminate Stage 1 when weather conditions, water-distribution recovery, supply conditions or other circumstances make doing so appropriate.

For now, residents do not need to stop watering their lawns. They are being asked to adjust their routines: follow the odd/even address schedule, avoid irrigation from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., address leaks and unnecessary runoff, and be mindful of nonessential water use.

Those relatively small changes are intended to help Fulshear manage demand before more restrictive measures become necessary.

As conditions change, residents should watch for additional City of Fulshear announcements regarding the drought response stage, watering guidance or any changes to conservation requirements.

Stay tuned to My Neighborhood News for updates affecting Fulshear residents, neighborhoods and families.

By Tiffany Krenek, My Neighborhood News 

Tiffany Krenek has been on the My Neighborhood News team since August 2021. She is passionate about curating and sharing content that enriches the lives of our readers in a personal, meaningful way. A loving mother and wife, Tiffany and her family live in the West Houston/Cypress region.