Sprinkle on, Houston

Houstonians are free to run their sprinklers at will again. Mayor Annise Parker ended the city's 5-month-old watering restrictions Wednesday after some neighborhoods received nearly 7 inches of rain earlier this week.

With the state and the city in the clutches of the worst drought on record last summer, the city's three reservoirs draining and an epidemic of burst pipes, Parker issued an order in mid-August limiting lawn watering to twice a week on assigned days. Lawns turned brown, residents called City Hall to report violations by their neighbors, public works employees issued dozens of warnings and signs spelling out the restrictions sprouted on medians and lawns throughout Houston.

Parker said she hopes the rescinded restrictions will leave a legacy of increased awareness of what she called "a new normal" in which residents recognize that the city does not have a limitless supply of water.

"I don't think that this is going to cause anybody to rush out and turn their sprinklers on, but that's actually a good thing, because we want people to have acquired a new habit and to rethink their relationship to the city's water supply," Parker said in a news conference after Wednesday's City Council meeting.

Measures may return

"We are not, however, out of long-term drought conditions, and until we are completely comfortable that we are out of long-term drought conditions, we're going to continue to monitor our water reservoirs very closely and our water usage very closely," she said. The city bases its drought response on the water level in its reservoirs and how close to capacity its water pumping stations are operating.

In fact, a news release issued by the mayor's office states that because the drought continues and the city's reservoirs are likely to enter the summer at lower levels than they did last summer, there is "a likeliness that conservation measures will need to be reinstated."

That was reassuring to Gary Richardson, a real estate broker at Prudential Gary Greene Lake Conroe. He said the lake has been rising since late November when the city stopped drawing water from it to replenish Lake Houston.

"I would hope that if the lake (Conroe) is not full at the beginning of the summer, they would put the restrictions back on. Last year, they waited too long," Richardson said.

The end of watering restrictions came two days after rains caused flash flooding across the Houston area. Three weeks ago, the city ended its ban on grilling and smoking in city parks.

About 10 inches of rain has fallen at Bush Intercontinental Airport since Nov. 1, and the city's reservoirs were 89 percent full Wednesday.

Lake Houston's water level is at 43 feet, a foot below full.

Reviewing response

The mayor called for voluntary citywide watering restrictions in June. When Houstonians failed to heed the call, Parker made the restrictions mandatory in August.

City officials are now considering revisions to the city's drought response ordinance. For example, the ordinance needs to address how restrictions apply to landscaping companies, Parker said.

She also said that in contrast to past practice, in which the city gave volume discounts for water, the city now needs to incentivize conservation.

"We do want Houstonians to continue voluntary water conservation and the new habits they developed over the summer and into the fall," Parker said.

chris.moran@chron.com