By Sean Batura at Kerrville Daily Times, August 25, 2020
The city of Kerrville will reimburse the county for high water bills the latter received in recent months, when more than 200,000 gallons of water went unaccounted for near the animal shelter.
A water meter connected to the county’s animal services office had shown 5.5 gallons of water per minute being used “with nothing on in the facility,” said Kerr County Animal Services Director Reagan Givens to county commissioners earlier this month. Although the animal shelter, at 3600 Loop 534, usually uses 10,000-17,000 gallons of water per billing period, it was billed in two periods for about 90,000 and 192,700 gallons, respectively — thousands of dollars-worth of water, Givens told commissioners.
Officials determined the mysterious water use began sometime between midnight and 2 a.m. July 10.
But it appears the water meter was simply too far away from the building— 200-250 yards away — to accurately gauge usage there, and a city irrigation project was responsible for the high use.
“The plumbing to the animal shelter building was tied into a service line at the Water Reclamation Plant decades ago before the building was gifted from the City to the County,” said city of Kerrville spokesman Stuart Cunyus in an Aug. 25 email. “Work was completed last week to separately meter the County’s service line at the edge of their property, and the County’s water bill has been adjusted accordingly. No leak has been detected along the line, and the usage was likely tied to recent temporary irrigation needs related to vegetation installation for erosion control.”
“The issue has been resolved,” said Precinct 3 County Commissioner Jonathan Letz during an Aug. 24 commissioners court meeting. “The city got right on it very quickly and there will be a refund.”
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