Water experts from across the region did not mince words during Llano County’s inaugural “Be Water Wise” conference on August 20th at the JLK Event Center. Although a river runs through it, Llano County needs to get serious about water conservation.
With a day full of speakers and demonstrations ahead, the day got to an early start at 8:00 AM, with opening words from Llano County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) Chairman Steve Haveriah and a welcome speech from County Judge Ron Cunningham.
In an email to The News, Haveriah said it was important to plan this conference because “the issue of water for the residents of Llano county is extremely important.” His goal with the conference was to “help educate the citizens of the need to work together to find some solutions, or at least some things to reduce water waste. We hope the main takeaway of the conference is not only how serious this issue is for Llano County, but also for the State as our population continues to grow and demand for water increases.”
Morning presentations were given by B.J. Baule, Research Assistant Professor at TAMU and Regional Climatologist; Monica Cruz, PhD of Demographics; Kelly Payne, VP of Water Operations at the LCRA; and Rob Foster, Geophysicist.
After a short break, Llano County Development Services representative Katherine Elkins spoke on the different regulations and requirements for incorporated vs. unincorporated municipalities within Llano County pertaining to groundwater. She explained that Llano County is not part of a water conservation district and does not monitor wells, and that questions about groundwater, existing wells and new well construction should be directed to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).
Next Dandy Kothman, of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), spoke directly to Llano County land and ranch owners about a popular topic - rain. “It’s not that we need more rain,” she said. “We need more efficient ways to make use of the rainfall we do get.”
In a compelling presentation, Kothman demonstrated how exposed bare ground is the enemy of water retention. She explained that bare ground equals quick runoff. Not only is the rainwater unable to soak into the ground through plant roots that act as super highways, it can take around 2,000 lbs. per acre of topsoil with it. It takes 100-500 years to create 1 inch of topsoil. “Will you be around to see that inch return?” Kothman asked the crowd of shaking heads.
The effects of topsoil runoff travel downstream into our municipal water system. The brown water that surged down the Llano River in July - that’s topsoil runoff that has to be dredged and filtered for consumption, taxing our water treatment plants and our taxpayer funds.
After the bad news came the good news. For landowners, encouraging native grass growth does wonders for rainwater and soil retention. For ranchers, Kothman suggested reevaluating stocking rates (acres per cow). Accurate stocking rates are “the #1 decision you can make. If you miss your stocking rate you are going to cause more degradation to resources,” she said.
There was a pause at noon for lunch provided by Cooper’s BBQ, then right back into presentations from Nancy Carpenter of the Llano Master Gardeners; Billy Kniffen, expert in rainwater harvesting; Jeff McFall of the Texas Forest Service; Fred Reyna of the NRCS; and John Smith, Program Specialist at the TX AgriLife Extension ended the day at 3:30 with information about water well testing.
In his email, Chairman Haveriah concluded, “we were pleased with attendance not really knowing what to anticipate. Llano County Judge and Commissioners were very supportive of what we were trying to accomplish as was the City of Llano. Both gave us input and ideas that we utilized in putting the program together.”
Local Impact
Of the countless take-aways from the conference, actions that Llano residents can take to conserve water stood out. As most Llano residents who use city water know, access to fresh water is one of the biggest concerns as the population grows. It’s a point of worry that we all share and have started to habitually monitor in our own ways. We crane our necks to see the water levels at Badu Park when we cross the bridge, we panic at the slightest dip in city water pressure, and we let our gardens dry up in July (no matter how hard we worked to plant them in April).
Nancy Carpenter of the Master Gardeners suggested planting native Buffalo and Centipede grass instead of thirsty Bermuda and St. Augustine. The best time to water is in the early morning once the sun is out, and 3” of mulch is the “Goldilocks zone” for water retention in gardens and landscapes. Plant natives in the Fall once summer temps have dropped, with time to establish before the first hard freeze. In perfect timing, the Master Gardeners Fall Native Plant Sale is October 5th on The Square.
Billy Kniffen gave staggering statistics for rainwater harvesting. Did you know that a 1,000 square foot roof can collect around 620 gallons of water from a one-inch rain? His full presentation can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF7K6nzvGwQ
About Our Water
The City of Llano’s 2024 Water Conservation Plan, Ordinance No. 1523, states “the City of Llano gets its raw water supply from the Llano River. The city has two dams constructed on the River known as Robinson Lake and Llano Lake. The raw water is removed from Llano Lake and treated by a 3 MGD (million gallons per day) water treatment plant … the water is stored in one of four tanks.”
The total water storage capacity of the city is 2.2 million gallons and according to the ordinance, 220,609,000 gallons of treated water were used in 2023 by approximately 3,325 people. A staggering 28,121,126 gallons of “unaccounted for water” was reported in the same year, which refers to the portion of water produced by a water utility system that is lost or untraceable within the distribution network before reaching consumers.
The ordinance adopted certain water conservation procedures like public education, universal metering, encouraging retrofit programs with residents, plumbers and contractors and promoting water conservation landscapes with discount incentives for local businesses who sell native plants and grasses.
The News spoke with Josh Becker, Director of Water and Wastewater Operations about the current status of these procedures. Becker was unable to attend the “Be Wise” conference.
Becker stated that the biggest change in the new ordinance was moving to mandatory Stage 1 water restrictions from March to September. When asked about the commercial and residential retrofit incentive programs, he explained that they are not being utilized, probably due to a lack of advertising from the city.
“They aren’t advertised as they should be,” he said. “It’s one of those things that gets overlooked because of other pressing matters. It’s been at least 5 years since a commercial business applied for an incentive.”
Currently, the only way a business or resident would know about the incentive program would be to look up and read Ordinance 1523. Applications are available at City Hall and at the City of Llano website.
Becker confirmed that the Badu Park Splash Pad and the City Pool both recirculate water, “with the only water loss being due to evaporation and what the kids take with them.” The Llano Laser Wash Car Wash is also on a recirculator and has “an incredibly low water bill for the amount of people it serves.”
