Water experts are predicting the possibility of a future drought in the area. The Ames City council members discussed ways to ration water to prepare for future problems at the city council meeting.

A motion approving a plan for an ordinance concerning water rationing in times of deficient supply was permitted March 27.

John Dunn, assistant director of the Ames Water and Pollution Control Department, proposed the idea of a newly revised water-rationing plan.

According to the staff report, the existing ordinance is “an `on-off’ type of restriction.” This means if the ordinance is not in effect, there are no restrictions, and if it is in effect, strict regulations apply. The revised ordinance has several stages and can only be put into effect if the city council deems a water shortage is present.

Stage I – Voluntary Conservation: Citizens will be asked to conserve usage of Potable Processed Water; no base allocation of premium rate will be established.

Stage II – Minor Mandatory Conservation: Prohibits Potable Processed Water usage run-off such as watering lawns, trees, shrubs and gardens. It also prohibits washing vehicles, except at said establishments, and restricts lawn watering to even/odd addresses based on the street address. New lawns may be watered for the first 10 days after planting.

Stage III- Moderate Mandatory Rationing: Base allocation of 150 percent of the customer’s average winter usage is established in this stage, accompanied by a premium rate of one cent per gallon. This stage prohibits car washing as in Stage II and increases the restriction to only establishments with water conservation equipment. Watering outdoors may occur once every five days. Filling private/semi-private pools will be prohibited and so will the use of hydrant meters.

Stage IV- This stage includes all previous restrictions plus a base allocation of 110 percent of the customer’s average winter usage, a premium rate of three cents per gallon, and the prohibition of outdoor watering and car washing. Some exceptions apply, including recently planted trees and shrubs.

Councilman Herman Quirmbach, associate professor of economics, questioned the plan, saying people could “run up a large water bill in the winter” in order to have a huge leeway in the summertime. But Tom Neuman, director of the Ames Water and Pollution Control Department, said this type of deception would be futile because water prices include sewer prices.