Although Kendall County remains in exceptional drought, Judge Darrel lux lifted the burn ban Thursday morning that had been in place since late June.
“The Kendall County judge, with the agreement of the Kendall County fire marshal, has determined that conditions present in the unincorporated areas of Kendall County will allow outdoor burning,” Lux’s order stated.
The local fire marshal, Jeff Fincke, said the decision was made because of the recent rains and the lack of fires caused by controlled burns taking place despite the burn ban being in effect.
“A lot of it has to do with recent rains,” Fincke told The Star. “And we understand parts of the county didn’t get as much as others, but we were getting so many requests to burn and so many people doing it without it (a request), and we weren’t having any grass fires.”
Fincke said the local fire chiefs were polled, and none of the volunteer fire department leaders had a problem with lifting the burn ban. He said most of the calls the fire departments are receiving are “chasing smoke,” saying residents see a controlled burn and report it, but there have been no grass fires reported in the past week that were out of control as a result of controlled burn.
“If someone drives down the road, and they see smoke, then they call it in because they don’t see anyone standing by it,” Fincke said. “But everything we’ve responded to has been under control.”
The latest update from the U.S. Drought Monitor still shows all of Kendall County in exceptional drought, the worst condition possible.
The U.S. Drought Monitor is a map that is updated each week to show the location and intensity of drought across the country. The USDM uses a five-category system that shows experts’ assessments of conditions related to dryness and drought including observations of how much water is available in streams, lakes and soils compared to usual flows for the same time of year.
Also, the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District remains in Stage 3 drought, which is the highest stage before a drought emergency is declared. That means, in part, that lawn and turf grass watering by hose-end sprinklers, automatic sprinklers, soaker hoses or drip irrigation is not allowed. Lawn and turf grass watering must be accomplished by handheld hose on designated watering days before 10 a.m. and after 8 p.m.
According to the CCGCD website, the average water level is 22.55 feet below the August average. Further, during its regular meeting last month, the groundwater district confirmed several wells have seen record lows this year, marking a potentially record-setting drought if the rains don’t continue.
According to the National Weather Service in New Braunfels, Boerne received 1.96 inches of rain in August, which is nearly an inch below the norm. Almost all of it – 1.45 inches – fell on Aug. 23 and another .18 of an inch accumulated in the three days around the 23rd.
For the year, Boerne has received only 9.81 inches, or 42 percent of its normal amount.
The burn ban was placed in the county on June 27.
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