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Constant fires and water conservation: signs of a worsening drought in Central Texas

Decreased water levels and an increase in wildfires are not causing major concerns for Temple City officials, but they say they are monitoring the situation.

TEMPLE, Texas — The City of Waco has already put in place mandatory water restrictions that begin Wednesday.

So what about other cities?

"As of right now, Lake Belton, which is where we get most of our water from, it is lower than we would like," Alex Gibbs, an official with the City of Temple said. "But it is not yet low enough as far as any cause for alarm."

Gibbs said there are a few different scenarios that would have the City of Temple ask their residents to start conserving water.

"We could declare a water shortage if the Brazos River Authority moves to stage two of that contingency plan," Gibbs said.

The Brazos River Authority has declared a stage one drought watch condition. A stage two drought warning condition is what Gibbs said would alert the city of Temple to start conserving water, but they are not there yet.

Gibbs said the city remains in a safe spot because the demand for water is not more than the supply right now.

The City of Temple has outlined what it means to practice year-round water conservation, and what different levels of water shortages mean here.

The only other reason the city would call for water conservation, is if there were a major failure in a water system.

Another worry during this drought are fires, something Santos Soto, with the Temple Fire Department, is keeping an eye on, but said is not getting out of hand.

"During normal wildfire season it's not uncommon for us to work together multiple times throughout that dry season, where that vegetation has dried out," Soto said. "So it's just a good thing to have in place and it kind of helps everybody around us, not just Temple itself."

Soto is talking about their Mutual Aid Agreement, TIFMAS, with other Fire Departments in and around Bell County, along with those in and outside of the state of Texas.

He added that this program will help his department and others to fight the ongoing fires, and fires in the future.

"That actually allows some of our firefighters that are certified and hold certain certifications to travel not just outside of the city limits but outside the county and even outside of the state," he said.

If you would like to keep up with the drought conditions in Bell County, click here. If you would like to see the drought conditions for Texas, click here.

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