exTRA by the Trinity River Authority of Texas

Since August 2022, the City of Copperas Cove has been under voluntary Stage 1 water conservation and restrictions. According to the city’s drought contingency plan for Stage 1, residents should be limiting watering their yards and other landscaped areas to two days a week, between the hours of midnight and 10 a.m., and 8 p.m. to midnight.

As of Thursday, burn bans have been issued in Polk, Liberty, Wharton and Colorado counties. In most areas, the burn ban means no outdoor grilling, trash burning, campfires and fireworks.

Most central Texas cities are still dealing with water restrictions a year after they were put in place, and some are on the verge of increasing those restrictions.

Galveston Island State Park recently shared footage of dozens of fiddler crabs wandering inside restroom facilities and piling up in corners inside the buildings. "These tiny crabs normally spend their days in burrows or on the mud near the edge of the salt marsh," park staff captioned a reel posted to Facebook on Thursday. "However, some have found refuge from predators in our camping restrooms."

Due to excessive irrigation, water supply challenges, and severe drought conditions, customers in the western side of the City of Georgetown’s service area will remain in Stage 3 restrictions through Sept. 4. Watering with an irrigation system or hose-end sprinkler is prohibited during Drought Stage 3.

In 2007, a 20-year water shortage plan for the Colorado River was put into place due to low water levels at Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Now, 16 years later, the clock is ticking for a new plan on water use. The Colorado River has been impacted a lot since 2007 and during Monday's meeting, three major changes in the basin impacting the river were highlighted.

More outdoor activities are available for Texans. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has gained access to two Central Texas areas that were previously only on private land, according to a news release. 

Know Your H2O Cedar Park, the city’s newest water conservation public awareness campaign, is intended to raise awareness about the importance of water conservation while providing tools and tips to help residents do so successfully, said Fran Irwin, the city’s community affairs director. Irwin said the year-round campaign will be most heavily promoted by the city during its hottest and driest months.

The city of Blanco's most recent water conservation problem has been ongoing since at least mid-June, when the mayor issued an update saying that the "city's water supply is vulnerable." Blanco's water plant was not working at the time, officials said, but even if it were, a local river was "too low for us to take water out of it."

Water customers in Palo Pinto and much of Parker counties can brace for significant increases on monthly bills as the Mineral Wells city council weighs big ticket options to ensure faucets keep flowing amid growth. The council learned the bleak numbers Tuesday, as a rate consultant delivered projections residents can expect to result from building a new water treatment plant, other infrastructure and a new lake.

Mayor Javier Joven says the project will improve water meter accuracy, leak detection, tower capacity and water pressure. Project Services of Texas audited hundreds of valves and more than 43,000 water meters to create the project plan.

The head of the U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission came to South Texas on Wednesday to inform border landowners of various federal and state programs as high heat and drought continue to threaten the Rio Grande Valley. USIBWC Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner oversaw a meeting held Wednesday evening in Weslaco, Texas, “to review how the Valley’s irrigation districts are coping with the water supply challenges they told me about, and how we can continue to help,” she said.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is launching a new campaign to help educate the public about a fatal neurological disease among deer known as Chronic Wasting Disease, or CWD.

TPWD said it’s adding CWD billboards and signs at gas stations, as well as redesigning the CWD webpage to share information on the disease and its impact.

Hydrilla is thriving this summer with low water levels and months of extreme heat. The invasive plant species has been in Texas for decades, said Patrick Ireland, district supervisor for the inland fisheries division of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. 

A main storm line will be installed from the intersection of Seattle Avenue and 27th Street to the intersection of Seattle and 30th Street. Other improvements include 500 linear feet of roadside ditch improvement from Seattle and 27th to Seattle and 28th, and the replacement of nine driveways and 375 linear feet of driveway culverts.

Local leaders throughout Central Texas have initiated burn bans this month as high temperatures and lack of rainfall has led to an increased risk of wildfires. During a burn ban, residents are prohibited from burning any combustible material outside of an enclosure that would protect flames from spreading, such as a firepit. Residents are also prohibited from smoking in county parks, preserves and trails.

Several creeks that weave through San Antonio’s West Side will soon be restored and enhanced under the long-awaited Westside Creeks Ecosystem Restoration Project. A press release said the project has been in the works for over a decade.

Rough surf at the beach might not be all that fun for swimming, but it does make for good creature hunting. Some beachgoers have posted images of some cool creatures that have been spotted more frequently than usual this month — starfish.

City of Blanco Mayor Mike Arnold said the city’s water reserves have refilled enough to serve the city for the next few days under current Stage 6 water restrictions. He attributes the tightened restrictions to maintenance issues the city’s water supplier is facing.