By Janet Jacobs

Daily Sun

The City of Corsicana is proposing new rules for sprinkler systems, to comply with new state rules that went into effect Jan. 1.

During the 2007 legislative session, the Texas legislature passed laws encouraging water conservation, and gave the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality the leeway to change the rules it uses to regulate sprinkler-installation companies. Cities with populations over 20,000 have to comply.

For Corsicana, that means a new inspection and approval system for sprinklers systems, both within the city limits and immediately around, areas where the city could grow through annexation.

“The city is now required to issue permits to ensure properly installed irrigation systems, and inspect those,” said Connie Standridge, city manager.

The proposed ordinance will be explained to the city council at an informal work session, starting at 5 p.m. Tuesday. However, it won’t be voted on by the council until the first meeting in May, Standridge said.

The upshot of the new state rules is that it will cost more money to install a sprinkler system, according to James Dowd, executive director of both the Dallas Irrigation Association and the Texas Turf Irrigation Association.

“What we’re finding is that costs have gone up,” Dowd said. “That’s ultimately passed onto the consumer, whether it’s a city fee or more time for the contractor, the bottom line is that costs have gone up.”

The costs include the need for more inspection work by the city, more paperwork for everyone, and possibly delays.

Prior to the new regulations, the state was responsible for irrigation systems, both large and small, but it seldom took action against individual residences. These changes transfer that responsibility to the city for making sure the systems are installed and working right.

Shifting this responsibility onto the cities makes it possible to do a more thorough job of overseeing irrigation systems, according to Candy Garrett, landscape irrigation program specialist with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in Austin.

“With the cities involved you can pick up a phone and have someone on the site within 24 hours,” she said. “It’s an improvement in customer service to the home owner and the irrigator.”

Collin Martin, owner of Collin’s Irrigation and Landscape in Corsicana, has been following the changes at the state level and he’s curious to see what the city intends to do. Most of the new rules are good ones, he said.

Martin, who’s had his license since 1996, expects he’ll have to submit more detailed plans for each system, have city approval beforehand, and have on-site inspections, but he’s not concerned about most of that.

“That’s a good thing, because it keeps Joe Schmoe from putting in stuff he doesn’t know anything about,” Martin explained. “It helps the people that do have their license.”

The general state rule is that the cities just make sure the systems are installed correctly, how they choose to do that is a local choice, Garrett said.

Among the most frequent complaints to the state were about unlicensed people trying to install or repair irrigation systems, Garrett said.

“That’s a huge concern to us,” she said. “To have people out there working on the public water supply (without proper training) is a huge concern.”

That Corsicana is just getting around to considering an ordinance that went into effect four months ago isn’t a big issue, Garrett said.

“Take a little extra time, and do a good job on an ordinance and have everything planned out,” she said. “We’re more interested in cities complying than in meeting some kind of mandatory date.”

“Really, what they’re looking for is the conservation of water,” Martin said. “That’s what it all comes back to.”

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Janet Jacobs may be reached via e-mail at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com