Mayor Turner said City of Houston water restrictions could soon be coming - KHOU.com

Houston water restrictions: Mayor Turner hints they're coming | khou.com

HOUSTON — Are water restrictions coming to the City of Houston? Mayor Sylvester Turner hinted they may during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

Texas has been mired in a drought, and after a one-day break from 23 straight days over 100 degrees, the Houston area is back in the oven with triple-digit highs in the forecast for the next several days.

During the council meeting, Mayor Turner said he knew that residents were experiencing water pressure issues because of leaks and that contractors are working on the problem now. But he also said that the city could soon put restrictions in place.

“Public works is also looking at, and I’m looking at whether or not we’re going to put in an order in terms of when people can use their water during the course of the day,” Mayor Turner said. “Because what is happening now is that it is so hot and, let’s say people are getting home and they are watering their grass and taking showers. They’re doing everything in the normal way and more, so it is better to have the pressure for the water to cook and place on your bodies to clean, so I do anticipate something coming out in that very soon because it doesn’t seem right now we can get a break.”

The City of Houston is in Stage 1 of the drought plan, where they're asking people to water on certain days.

According to the city, the the issues are more do to with the city's water infrastructure than the supply. And when it gets hot, more water is used, putting a strain on pipes. According to Houston Public Works, we've been in Stage 1 since June of 2022.

Before any change in the drought plan can take effect, the city of Houston needs to meet certain metrics. Once those metrics are met, Houston Public Works can make the recommendation to move to Stage 2 of the drought plan, which would make restrictions mandatory.

“We’ve got to manage this crisis and to get us through this crisis, I’m going to ask Houstonians to work with us and that is to water your grass late at night, not during the day, not at 6, 7 o’clock in the afternoon, minimize your use much as possible, but we’ll put forth a plan to address that soon.,” Turner said.

KHOU 11 is working to get more details for this story. Check back for updates.