“We’ve had staff out there every morning counting the number of people irrigating during those times,” Ryan Williams, assistant director of the Water and Light Department, said in reference to the hours of 4 to 6 a.m., when water pressure in the area is dropping below 20 pounds per square inch. “It seems to be that roughly 200 systems is kind of, for whatever reason, the threshold for what can be sustained.”

On June 15, a voluntary irrigation schedule was released for Thornbrook and other nearby subdivisions, including Bradbury Estates, Creek’s Edge, Steeplechase and Wyndham Ridge, according to previous Missourian coverage.

But after nearly a week on the irrigation schedule, there has been little improvement, Williams said. He said that over 600 homes in the area are affected by the advisory.

There are about 500 irrigation systems in the neighborhood.

Few residents have been following the irrigation schedule, Williams said, so Water and Light is looking to find a way to better communicate with residents and encourage them to avoid irrigating at the same time.

Thornbrook resident Julie Ryan said she was initially following the voluntary irrigation schedule but has since shut her sprinkler system off. She said some of her neighbors have done the same, hoping it would help lift the advisory.

Ryan said she’s been using bottled water rather than boiling water from the tap.

Fifth Ward Councilwoman Laura Nauser represents the area and lives in the Thornbrook neighborhood. She has been following the irrigation schedule and encouraging her neighbors to do so as well.

“It’s a temporary fix to get us through the summer,” Nauser said.

Both Ryan and Nauser said that while no solution has been found, Water and Light has been good about keeping them updated on the problem.

“They’ve been very good,” Nauser said. “They’ve certainly kept me informed of all of the issues.”

Is it just irrigation?

Ryan has lived in the neighborhood for over six years. She said Thornbrook has never had this irrigation problem before, even during the severe drought of 2012.

She wonders whether recent construction in the area or the construction of the Beulah Ralph Elementary School could also be contributing to the low water pressure.

“My concern right now is that the focus remains on it being primarily an irrigation issue, and the longer this goes on it doesn’t truly seem to be an irrigation issue from what we can tell as residents,” Ryan said.

Williams said he doesn’t believe the new school has been using any water yet. He also doesn’t believe the nearby home construction is the problem.

“This is kind of a unique situation for us, we haven’t really seen this anywhere on our system before that the irrigation demand would be so high to cause pressure problems within such a localized area,” Williams said.

Nauser said that the water pressure problems match with the days people irrigate.

“It is Monday, Wednesday, Friday when most of these people have these problems, so that is a typical watering pattern,” Nauser said.

Ryan, however, remains skeptical.