Due to ongoing drought conditions and persistently low lake levels, the City of Cedar Park is entering Stage 3 Water Conservation Measures. This is an effort to conserve water, as required by the LCRA, which manages Cedar Park’s sole water supply, Lake Travis. Under our Drought Contingency Plan, which aligns with the LCRA Plan, the City of Cedar Park aims to reduce its water consumption by 10-to-20 percent.

Stage 3 Water Conservation Measures take effect on August 14, 2023.

• All residential and commercial/nonresidential customers located inside the city limits.
• All customers in the following neighborhoods outside the city limits that receive an individual water bill from the City:
  • Shenandoah, Cross Creek, Ranch at Cypress Creek, Downing Ln.
• Additionally, all customers in the following locations:
  • Block House Creek MUD
  • Williamson/Travis Counties MUD 1
  • Indian Springs.
  • A map outlining the areas can be found below:

When the combined storage level of Lakes Travis and Buchanan (just upstream of Lake Travis) reaches 900,000 acre-feet, all LCRA customers who draw water from Lake Travis including the City of Cedar Park are required to reduce water consumption by 10-to-20 percent. We have now reached that threshold.

Under our Drought Contingency Plan, the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) is asking Cedar Park water customers to reduce water consumption by 10-to-20 percent. Stage 3 means a new, mandatory one-designated-day-per-week outdoor watering schedule and other stricter water conservation measures, along with a temporary water conservation rate adjustment.

The new outdoor watering schedules are listed below.

Residential Outdoor Watering Schedule:

Addresses ending in 1 and 3 water on Wednesday

Addresses ending in 4, 6, and 8 water on Thursday

Addresses ending in 5, 7, and 9 water on Saturday

Addresses ending in 0 and 2 water on Sunday

Commercial Outdoor Watering Schedule:

All commercial addresses (including apartments and HOA-owned properties) water on Tuesday

Customers may water before 10 a.m. and/or after 7 p.m. on their designated watering day.

Customers with an automatic irrigation system should program their system to adhere to the new designated one day per week schedule. Watering times must be set to occur before 10 a.m. and/or after 7 p.m. on the designated watering day only. Irrigation and sprinkler systems must be in good working order, and all leaks must be repaired.

Tips on how to program your automatic irrigation system can be found here. 

More helpful videos can be found on our Rebates & Resources page. 

Please note that the following activities are permitted at any time:

• Using handheld buckets/watering pails for non-prohibited activities.
• Hand watering using a handheld hose equipped with a positive pistol grip nozzle or other device that automatically shuts off water flow when the hose is not being used.
• Vehicle washing at a commercial car wash.
• Personal vehicle washing using a handheld hose equipped with a positive pistol grip nozzle or other device that automatically shuts off water flow when the hose is not being used.
• Use and operation of public pools and splash pads and HOA pools.
• Residential recreational sprinkler devices such as slip and slides as long as they are placed on a lawn to prevent water from being wasted.
• Using a non-potable source of water for irrigation (i.e. golf courses or athletic fields with non-potable sources of water for irrigation).
• Filling of single-family residential pools.
• Using a pressure washer. A person may not use commercially operated cosmetic power/pressure washing equipment unless it is fitted with a spray nozzle using no more than 3.5 gallons of water per minute and employing a working trigger shutoff with a protective weep mechanism.
• Drip irrigation and soaker hoses 

As part of Stage 3 Water Conservation Measures, a temporary water conservation rate adjustment will be implemented starting in September and reflected in customer utility bills starting in October. The temporary conservation rate adjustment further encourages residents to reduce water usage. The temporary water conservation rate adjustment also helps maintain adequate funding for the water utility to ensure that the City of Cedar Park is able to maintain operations and continue to deliver safe and high quality drinking water to our customers.

Your monthly utility bill is dependent on your water usage. Customers who reduce their water consumption as requested should not see an overall increase in their monthly utility bill. While the temporary water conservation rate adjustment does increase rates (water only) by 9% on your utility bill, if you adhere to the Stage 3 water conservation measures and use less water, your monthly water bill should not be substantially impacted.

Customers can monitor their water usage through the City’s Digital Metering Portal. Visit www.waterthriftycedarpark.org/digital-metering to sign up, view usage in near-real-time, set thresholds and receive alerts.

When the combined storage levels rise above 900,000 acre-feet for an extended period of time, the City may return to Stage 2 Water Conservation Measures, and the temporary conservation rate adjustment will be suspended at the beginning of the next regular utility billing cycle.

For more information on our rates, visit cedarparktexas.gov/rates

The City of Cedar Park has had great results with our residential and business customers following their watering schedules over the years. We expect to have continued compliance as we enter this new phase of watering restrictions. The City of Cedar Park will continue its conservation patrol and individual outreach to ensure compliance. After a warning, violators of the restrictions will be assessed a fee on their utility bill for subsequent violations.

Though Stage 3 Water Conservation measures are now in effect, the City of Cedar Park will allow time for customers to adjust their automatic irrigation systems and reduce their water usage prior to enforcement. The City of Cedar Park will start enforcing Stage 3 Water Conservation Measures on September 4, 2023.

To report water waste or a watering violation, you may submit a report at https://www.cedarparktexas.gov/report-it or call our Water Hotline at 512-817-5052. If you have questions, you may e-mail us at [email protected].

Yes, the City of Cedar Park is following its own one-day-per-week watering schedule on all commercial properties so you will see the City watering on Tuesdays, between the hours of 7 p.m. and 10 a.m. In addition, some City of Cedar Park facilities (e.g. parks) use non-potable, recycled water, which are subject to the Stage 3 restrictions.

The City of Cedar Park does not typically irrigate roadway medians, or irrigate along sidewalks. If you see a median or sidewalk easement being watered, such as along Lakeline Boulevard, it’s most likely an HOA-owned property. In any case, the watering day for such a property is Tuesday, before 10 a.m. or after 7 p.m.

The schedule was designed to preserve one designated watering day from the previous schedule for all customers. This schedule divides addresses in a way that most evenly shares the amount of water actually being treated and distributed daily through our water utility. This reduces stress on our water utility.

Yes. The City offers credits to your utility bill, for the purchase of a rain barrel (or rain barrels). Here’s how it works:

• Credit is 50-cents-per-gallon of barrel capacity
• Up to $100 credit per lifetime of the utility account
• Single-family residential locations within the City may qualify
• Customer must be in good standing
• Credit is applied to utility account
• The City is not supplying rain barrels for purchase it’s the individual resident’s choice
• There is an online application process
• Include photos, itemized receipts within 60 days of installation
• Allow for a site inspection

In addition to the new rain barrel rebate program, the LCRA offers several rebates and resources. More information on all of these rebates and resources including the City of Cedar Park’s rain barrel rebate program may be found at https://waterthriftycedarpark.org/rebates-resources-stage-3/

The City of Cedar Park is well positioned to provide a safe and reliable supply of treated water to our customers for many years to come, up to and including the full build-out of our City. This is due to long-range planning, design, construction and maintenance of our infrastructure, and conservation efforts.

Long-Range Planning

The Brushy Creek Regional Utility Authority (BCRUA) is a great example of long-range planning that has helped increase water capacity for the region as cities have continued to grow. The BCRUA Phase II Deep Water Intake, which is currently under construction, is one of the best examples of forward thinking that will ensure a safe and reliable supply of water now and in the future. It will allow cities to better serve our customers even during extreme droughts by extending the raw water intake further out into deeper areas of Lake Travis.

The BCRUA Phase 1D Water Treatment Plant Expansion and the City of Cedar Park Water System Resiliency Project are also examples of forward-thinking and long-term planning. The resiliency project provides stand-by emergency power at our main water treatment plant to protect against power outages from catastrophic storms like the ice storm we experienced in 2021.

Furthermore, the City of Cedar Park has strived to maintain a balance of types of development and the different levels of water consumption it brings.

Maintenance

The City of Cedar Park has a rigorous rehabilitation and maintenance system for its water utility. The City does water rehab projects on its lines, storage tanks, pump stations and treatment plant annually, monitoring the utility and proactively identifying leaks and problems.

Conservation

The City of Cedar Park has a robust water conservation program and has proactively remained under no-more-than twice-per-week outdoor watering restrictions since the last drought ended in 2015. Because this has been in effect for so many years, our commercial and residential customers have well-established conservation habits and Cedar Park stands ready to pivot to additional conservation as needed.

Only with approval of a watering variance. Residents/businesses can apply for a watering variance that allows them to water for 21-consecutive days when they are planting/seeding new sod. This is a one-time request per installation and can be done via our Variance Request Form. We will not honor any requests to repeat or renew variances during Stage 3, so we urge residents/businesses to seriously consider delaying planting/seeding new sod until we return to Stage 2. To apply for a variance, visit https://www.cedarparktexas.gov/formcenter/public-works-7/water-restriction-variance-request-form-49.

If you would like more information about Stage 3, in addition to what’s featured on www.waterthriftycedarpark.org, we’re happy to help!

You may e-mail us at [email protected]

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