Rockwall County town running out of water for basic necessities

A small city in Rockwall County is dealing with a big water problem.

After running out of water last year, residents are now being asked to limit their usage to basic necessities.

It’s happening in McLendon-Chisholm just outside of Rockwall.

The utility that manages the city's water issued a Stage 5 restriction. That means no watering outdoors, washing cars or filling up pools.

It's because of a limitation on water the utility can access for the city's residents.

"New homes are coming up just every day. People are moving in every day," said resident Kristi Dickinson. "But we can’t support, there’s not enough water for the people who already live here." 

The city’s population is expanding in Rockwall County almost too fast for the amount of water it has available. 

"We are in Stage 5. We have a contractor limit of 2.1 million gallons per day from the city of Rockwall, and we were continuing to hit it," said David Naylor with RCH Water Supply. "You know, this many days of 100-plus-degree weather and no rain makes it challenging." 

Currently, residents are being asked to only use water for essentials like cooking, drinking and bathing. 

 It isn’t the first time this has happened. RCH gets its water from the city of Rockwall, and it’s a limited amount.  Last year, the town ran out of water.   

"When the water ran out last year, that was very concerning," Dickinson said. "It causes more problems than just running out for 24 hours because then you have to boil your water. They should have more of a plan in place to prevent this versus once it happens then they have to scramble to find a solution. Why can’t we be preventative?" 

Naylor says people are frustrated, and he is too.   

"So this year, we were trying to be proactive. We went to Stage 2 back in May in anticipation that this is going to be a tight summer," he said.

Last week, McLendon-Chisholm held a town hall meeting to discuss ways to improve the situation. That included city leaders taking matters into their own hands. 

Mayor Pro Tem Adrienne Balkum said in a statement, "City ownership of the RCH Water System would ensure the lowest cost for customers, the most stable relationship with the water wholesaler and the most transparency to customers."  

Dickinson agrees the city should handle the water supply. 

"Definitely city and not a for-profit company. When I lived in Rockwall before, we didn’t have these types of issues," she said.

RCH is working on a deal to have a different utility company called Aqua to  take over.