By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

Pastors from Austin-area churches organized a city-wide day of prayer and fasting on Thursday that culminated with a service at Hyde Park Baptist Church that evening to pray for rain in Central Texas.

The May 22 service to pray for rain filled Hyde Park Baptist Church with more than 700
people from congregations around Austin. Austin Christian Fellowship’s senior pastor, Will Davis Jr., helped lead the service.
Photos by Jim Shields

Will Davis Jr., pastor of Austin Christian Fellowship based in Four Points, said the idea came about a month ago during a pastor’s prayer meeting.

“In that moment of prayer, on this platform, God spoke to one of the pastors and said, ‘You need to pray for rain and you need to tell the city council what you’re doing,’” Davis told attendees at the evening prayer service.

The group’s first organized “prayer for rain” meet-up was at the Austin City Council meeting on May 15 where they stood in the city council chambers and prayed Lake Travis would return to its 681-foot level, at which point the lake is considered full.

The May 22 service filled Hyde Park Baptist Church with more than 700 people from congregations around Austin. Photos by Jim Shields.

The May 22 service filled Hyde Park Baptist Church with more than 700 people from congregations around Austin. Continue reading →

By CASSIE MCKEE, Four Points News

The neighboring City of Lakeway issued a moratorium on all new swimming pool permits last week in an effort to slow all non-essential water use in the city during this drought.

“We are here on the lake, it’s a part of our community. As we watch the lake levels and our water supply diminish before our eyes, we wanted to look at the steps we can take to address that,” Lakeway spokesman Devin Monk told the Austin American-Statesman last week. On May 20 the moratorium was issued.

Also last week, Lakeway Mayor Dave DeOme issued an order lifting requirements on new construction projects to have landscaping such as grass and trees. Lakeway is currently under stage 3 water restriction, meaning residents can only water their lawns one day per week.

The city of Austin is currently under stage 2 water restriction, which also allows watering only one day per week; however, watering with a handheld hose is allowed anytime.

Dan Edison

Dan Edison, owner of Austin’s Innovative Pools and Spas, has designed more than 600 hundred pools in Central Texas and many in Four Points. He said this is the first time in the 13 years of owning his company that he’s heard of a city placing a ban on pool permits. He said the Brushy Creek Municipal Utility District also issued a ban on pool permits last week; however, an addendum was added that allows new pools as long as the water is trucked in from somewhere else.

While Lakeway’s move won’t affect his business directly, he is worried that it may cause other surrounding cities to take similar action.

“If other ones start following suit, that could be pretty disastrous for the pool industry,” Edison said.

He said he feels that pools are an easy target and aren’t necessarily the biggest water users.

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