SAN ANTONIO — Even though rain on Monday and Tuesday brought substantial flooding, it also brought substantial improvement to an aquifer that was on the way down.
"Everyone is going to be happy if they didn't flood out. We definitely need the rain," Daniel Keith from Rainbow Gardens said. He was one of those happy campers when the rains fell, because it's good for yards, and great for a colorful business with fall approaching. "This rain will give things a boost. Everyone will have more confidence," he said.
Speaking of confidence, the Edwards Aquifer Authority has more confidence that they won't have to go into Stage Three restrictions.
Jim Winterle, the Director of Modeling and Data Management with the Edwards Aquifer Authority told us, "It was a time when we were about to go into Stage Three of water restrictions, so that rain likely prevented it or held it off for a time to come."
Between midnight Monday night and 9:30 Tuesday morning, the Edwards Aquifer rose almost four feet. Winterle says that is not that uncommon. "We get most of our recharges from storms like yesterday and today where they generate run off to streams, and when those streams flow off into the recharge zone, it sinks into the ground and becomes the water for our aquifer," he said.
Even though the aquifer may have risen several feet, we still aren't close to coming out of Stage Two. That's because the Edwards Aquifer Authority goes by a 10-day average. "The 10-day average sort of eliminates the daily fluctuations due to pumping that goes on in the city. Having a 10-day average it is less likely to go in and out of stages and restrictions from day to day," Winterle said.
We also spoke with SAWS today, who told us that even though the aquifer received that boost, Stage Two watering restrictions remain in place, so stick to your watering and watering times as you have been for the past two months.