Still under once-a-week watering, city has issued 31 citations this year as warnings top 6,700

Celina residents remain limited to watering their lawns once a week, and a staff update headed to the City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 13, shows the city has leaned harder on enforcement this year than in the past two.

Mayor Ryan Tubbs asked for a monthly water conservation briefing until the city exits Stage 2 restrictions, according to the agenda memo. Tuesday's version, from Assistant City Manager Kimberly Brawner and Public Works Director Andrew Figueroa, includes a three-year comparison:

• Water meters: 16,865 in 2024, 18,212 in 2025, 20,618 in 2026
• Peak daily use: 11.8, 11.7 and 12.03 million gallons a day
• Average daily demand: 6.5, 6.2 and 7.42 million gallons a day
• Days above the city's subscription: 40, 7 and 22
• Warnings issued: 4,020, 3,963 and 6,731
• Repeat violators: 938, 282 and 1,742
• Citations: none in 2024 or 2025, and 31 this year

How enforcement works

The presentation lays out four steps: a yellow door hanger and yard flag with an email asking for voluntary compliance, then orange and red hangers, each with a two-week grace period, and finally a citation.

Citations are issued by Celina police in the name of the person on the utility account and carry a fine of $500 to $2,000, staff says, and irrigation meters are disconnected with reconnection fees. The memo says education remains the main focus, and it points to overnight sprinkler schedules as a common source of overuse.

Under Stage 2, landscape watering is allowed once a week, hand-held hoses, drip irrigation and soaker hoses can be used up to two hours a day, and existing landscaping cannot be replaced. The stage aims for a 10% cut in use.

Why the limits remain

Celina buys its water from the Upper Trinity Regional Water District, which raised the city's subscription from 10.5 to 11 million gallons a day on Aug. 25. Average use of about 7.4 MGD fits within that, but summer irrigation pushes peaks higher, the memo says.

Upper Trinity has told the city no more supply will be available until Lake Ralph Hall is operational. The lake started filling July 2 and is projected to take two to seven years to fill, depending on rainfall, according to the memo.

The district itself entered Stage 2 on July 28 for customers of its Harpool Water Treatment Plant: Celina, the Elm Ridge Water Control and Improvement District, Mustang Special Utility District and Providence Village. Its 2019 drought plan triggers that stage when its supply lakes fall below 60% between April and October, and the presentation puts Upper Trinity's supply in Lake Chapman at 42%.

The district has not given Celina a date for lifting the restrictions, staff wrote.

The city has continued to reach its own Stage 3 trigger of 9.9 MGD, or 90% of its subscription, but Upper Trinity has supplied enough extra water on a temporary basis that Stage 3 has not been needed, the memo says. Those increases depend on the district's system capacity.

The council's 5 p.m. meeting is at City Council Chambers, 112 N. Colorado St.

Sources

celinatx.api.civicclerk.com

celinatx.api.civicclerk.com