Spring Hill city administrator suggests fines for homeowners not complying with water conservation policy

In the early morning hours of Friday, Aug. 13, staff at the Spring Hill Waste Water Plant were tasked with driving around different neighborhoods to see how many homeowners were actually complying with the city's water conservation policy, which at this point prohibits irrigation on Fridays.

What was discovered was that around 800 homes across 11 subdivisions were openly watering their yards in violation of the city's policy.

The plant workers were given this task after city staff noticed significant drops in the city's water supply throughout the week, with water supply dropping from 80 percent on Saturday, Aug. 7 to around 65 percent on Monday, Aug. 9.

It was during the city's bi-monthly meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen on Monday, Aug. 16, that City Administrator Pam Caskie suggested a potential fix to the problem.

"The problem is right now the water conversation policy is a policy; with 800 homes not complying, it might be time for us to think about a water conservation ordinance which would give us the right to fine those people who are not complying and to get their attention by being able to be write them a ticket," Caskie said as a suggestion to the board.

"Yes, it's a $50-a-day ticket — not the end of the world — but at least the ordinance would have some teeth because right now, all we can do is beg and plead for people to pay attention."

Currently, the city's water conservation policy allows for addresses with the last numeral ending with an odd number to water on Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Addresses with an even last numeral may water on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, with no watering allowed at all on Fridays.

The policy, however, is light on enforcement mechanisms.

Those who fail to follow the water policy will first receive a warning, followed by a second warning. A third warning may result in water services being shut off - with a reconnection fee required for continuation of service. However, the enforcement mechanisms have proved largely ineffective.

With temperatures continuing to climb in Spring Hill along with the rest of the country and Williamson County seeing 34% more days above 90 degrees a year when compared to 20 years ago, water conservation continues to be a highly discussed topic among city staff and leaders.

"We're doing what we can to solve the problem to provide for water, but let's face it: your grass doesn't need to be watered every day, so it can skip Friday, and it can skip a couple days," Caskie said.

"We need to be mindful of the fact that water is a much more precious resource than we think about. Every place is having some trouble these days as we have climate shifts and we're having these long periods of no rain."

City leaders took Caskie's suggestions, though did not comment as to whether they would propose such an ordinance in the future. Alderman Trent Linville told the Home Page, however, that he felt it was unlikely that such an ordinance would be needed.