FARMINGTON — The city of Aztec released a notice today asking residents to voluntarily conserve water.
The voluntary conservation is stage 1 of the city’s Water Conservation and Drought Plan, which was amended earlier this year.
The city is asking for people to water lawns, gardens, trees or shrubs between 4 a.m. and 10 a.m. or between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m.
It is also asking people who have even-numbered addresses to only water on even-numbered days and people who have odd-numbered addresses to only water on odd-numbered days.
Stage 1 conditions will be in place until further notice, and the city could choose to implement mandatory restrictions if drought conditions do not improve.
A stream gauge in the Animas River near Cedar Hill registered a flow of 209 cubic feet per second today, according to data from the U.S. Geological Survey.
That is down from 270 cubic feet per second on Monday.
A gauge in the Animas River downstream from Aztec registered 74.3 cubic feet per second today, and in Farmington the river was flowing at 67 cubic feet per second.
Information about Aztec’s Water Conservation and Drought Plan can be found at aztecnm.gov.