The campaign so far has targeted areas of the state where utilities experienced excessive demands during the drought of 1998, threatening their abilities to provide basic levels of services or guarantee fire-fighting capabilities. In 15 minutes, a continuously running hose can dispense up to 75 gallons of water. A slow drip on a kitchen or bathroom faucet can waste 15 to 20 gallons of water a day, a leaky toilet as much as 100 gallons of water per day. Sprinklers that mist or throw out small droplets can lose to evaporation as much as 50 percent of the water they emit. Use drip irrigation or hand watering to get your money's worth.
Frequent lawn watering encourages shallow root growth.
Most Texas lawns will stay healthy with a thorough weekly watering of 1.5 inches. Although autumn rains refilled badly depleted underground aquifers and surface water reservoirs, forecasters say Texas is likely once again to endure a prolonged period of dry weather in the spring and summer of 1999. We could do without repeating the experiences of the drought of '98. E.W. Scripps Publications , All Rights Reserved. Site users are subject to our User Agreement .