Jul. 27--The city of Kerrville avoided Stage 3 water restrictions last week after a brief rain, cooler temperatures and conservation efforts by the community.

Original predictions showed Kerrville headed to Stage 3 restrictions as early as Thursday,

July 24.

Now the city says, "if citizens continue to conserve in the same manner that they did this past week, then Stage 3 of the water conservation plan can be postponed indefinitely."

"The single biggest impact to Kerrville's water system has been the reduction in water usage by the Kerrville water users," a city press release read. "Kerrville avoided stage three by simply conserving water. In fact, water usage for Thursday was one of the lowest Kerrville has had all year."

A brief rain shower moved through the area on Tuesday, dropping between .25 and .4 inches of rain throughout most of Kerrville.

Another factor that helped was several days of cloudy weather that kept temperatures below average.

The seven-day average use for the safe operating capacity of the city never reached the average of 95 percent, which would have automatically triggered stage three restrictions.

"The various stages of Kerrville's water conservation plan are triggered, and directly related to, water availability and water consumption," according to the release.

Last week, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality cut the city back to one million gallons daily intake from the Guadalupe River -- down from 6.4 million daily gallons at full capacity.

Water users can monitor the city's water usage table online at www.kerrville.org/index.aspx?nid=513.

The public is encouraged by the city to visit the site daily and, city officials said, "do their part in conserving water to avoid the inconvenience of entering Stage 3 of the conservation plan."

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