A Texas city of over 100,000 people is asking its citizens to conserve water.
College Station, widely known as the home of Texas A&M, has introduced a new irrigation rebate program to "encourage water conservation" during peak summer usage and proclaimed July to be "Smart Irrigation Month" at a recent city council meeting, according to KBTX.
What does this mean in practice? Well, the rebate program is set to offer local homeowners a rebate of 50% of the cost of smart irrigation equipment — up to $500. More information and an application form for the rebate can be found on the city's website.
"A single-family home in the winter months might use around 5,000 gallons of water a month, maybe up to 7,000 gallons," says Jennifer Nations, the city's Water Resource Coordinator. "A single irrigation system, once cycled, when it goes through all of the zones, can use that much in a cycle."
As Texas is frequently one of the hottest and driest states in the U.S., conserving water during the summer months is becoming more of a necessity and could literally save lives.
The state has been seeing an increasing number of heat-related deaths in recent years, and while they are not all going to be avoidable, imposing restrictions on those who would ordinarily take more than their share through showers, sprinklers, and other outlets, by proxy denying others access to water in the process, is a huge step forward.
States like California and cities like Tehran, Iran, and Des Moines, Iowa have employed similar tactics as the effects of climate change have worsened of late.
In the case of College Station, no formal drought proclamation is imminent yet. But officials are still encouraging caution and warning citizens against complacency after getting some rainfall.
Brazos County Emergency Management Coordinator Jason Ware said: "That really gives people a false sense of security: You know, I can get half-an-inch of rain one day, and the next day, the winds are high and the temperature's high and that vegetation, that moisture is going to go away."
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