Water restrictions continue for Austin residents. We are still in phase two with restaurant patrons being required to ask for water before it can be served. Otherwise, waiters and bartenders can be fined $400. I like the restriction given the circumstances, but I'm not so big on the fines. How about cutting the working folks some slack? Haven't heard of the city handing any out though, so I won't make a big a deal of it. We'd be better off going after the top ten percent of water users in the city and encouraging them to conserve. Maybe provide incentives.
The good news is we got some rain this evening. It completely knocked out power at my store and there was even a little hail. Very violent winds with gusts measured as high as 50 mph. Between 2 to 3 inches fell in some parts of the city, though very little downtown, and there may be more on the way tomorrow. Meanwhile, our beloved, spring-fed Deep Eddy pool is drying up, so we need it badly.
Deep Eddy Pool’s wells are running dry, and the city said Friday the pool could dry up soon.
When the city replaced what they thought was, a failing pump last week, they realized the pump wasn’t broken— the well that feeds the shallow end of the pool was bone dry.
Two wells feed Deep Eddy Pool, the city said. The well at the shallow end has dried up. The well that feeds the deep end of the pool is at risk of drying up, according to experts. Both are victims of the ongoing drought in the region.
I figured now is as good a time as any to post these photos I took of the Bull Creek water crossing, where the road has always been covered by the creek since I moved here. It often floods, closing the road completely and threatening nearby houses. Lately, it's been so dry that road crews have been able to work on what's usually under water. A picture's worth a thousand words. See previously posted drought photos here.
