Aside from yesterday's one-one-hundredth of an inch of rain, San Antonio hasn't seen a significant amount of measurable rainfall since early June. That lack of rain is starting to take its toll on the area water supply, possibly bringing back drought conditions.
It took about five months for the Edwards Aquifer to rise about 30 feet from just over 660 feet to its peak in early June, but only five weeks to lose all of that gain. But the Edwards Aquifer Authority says that isn't too abnormal.
"We usually expect to see at least a 10 foot drop, and 20 and 30 foot drops like we are seeing now is not that unheard-of when it's really dry," said Jim Winterle, director of modeling and data management for the Edwards Aquifer Authority.
It may not sound like much but in this week's drought monitor, moderate drought conditions have returned to close to 2 percent of Texas. The percent of the state listed as abnormally dry has more than doubled to 13 percent.
The dry conditions are forcing many to flock to stores like Home Depot to try to conserve water.
"We have seen a surplus in sales in our drip irrigation systems and in our soaker systems as well," said Dulce Delacerda, a certified lawn and garden associate at Home Depot.
But even though many may look into the water conservation products offered like drought-resistant plants, some don't know the best times of the day to water.
"Early in the morning and later on in the evening. You definitely do not want to water midday. It won't absorb," Delacerda said.
"You might consider xeriscaping, hand watering when possible, and just hitting the dry spots, and take shorter showers," Winterle said.
One thing to note is that when the Edwards Aquifer Authority declares stage one water restrictions, that is based on environmental factors. That is then passed onto SAWS. SAWS then determines how that will be passed on to customers based on supply and demand.