General Discussion

The region’s largest industrial users, which consume the majority of the region’s water, remain exempt from emergency curtailment. These multi-billion-dollar refineries, petrochemical plants and liquified natural gas facilities are built to run at a steady rate and can’t throttle down production in accordance with water availability. They consume large volumes of water primarily in cooling towers to prevent excessive heating and explosions.

The city may enact across-the-board, pro-rata curtailment at will, said Winkelmann. He assumed his role in September when the city’s then-water director, Drew Molly, resigned days before the City Council pulled the plug on its long-running desalination project.