Amada Baldovinos 
MCALLEN/BROWNSVILLE – Water restrictions are now in place in some parts of the Rio Grande Valley. This is because water levels at the Falcon and Amistad reservoirs have decreased significantly since 2002 by 75 percent.
“The water levels at the reservoirs combined together between Falcon and Amistad have reached a level of 25 percent or lower,” said Claire Quezada, Public Relations Coordinator for Public Utilities Board in Brownsville.
According to Quezada, stage two will allow the use of water for landscape irrigation on certain days depending on the service address.
“If the last digit of your service address is zero or one, you can water on Mondays and Saturdays,” said Quezada. “If your last digits service address is two or three, then you can water on Tuesday and Saturday, four or five Wednesday and Saturday, six or seven Thursday and Sunday, and eight or nine it only [on] Fridays and Saturdays.”
Quezada also offers tips on how to conserve water and even lower customers’ water bills.
“Check your toilet, your faucets, and pipes for leaks at home,” Quezada adds. “Sometimes customers might be surprised how high their bill is compared to last month and it’s probably most of the time because of some sort of leak.”
Under stage two, restrictions prohibit the time you are allowed to use water but not on the amount of water you use.
“That’s where there are restrictions on how much water you use, so that’s where we say, the home you can use 15 thousand gallons a month for your home, ten thousand gallons to irrigate, but stage two there are no restrictions on water, it’s just time,” said Mark Vega, General Manager at the McAllen Public Utilities.
According to Quezada, if water levels at the reservoirs continue to lower, stage three could begin by late fall.
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