The city of Katy has entered stage 1 of its drought contingency plan, city officials announced Aug. 21.

The context: The four-stage contingency plan was created as a part of Katy’s water conservation plan to manage drought conditions and water emergencies as the city works to supply residents with clean drinking water that meets state standards, according to the city’s website.

Stage 1, or mild, aims to decrease residents’ water use by 5% based on water usage data over the last 12 months.

Zooming in: The first phase of the plan strives to raise public awareness of potential drought problems with residents encouraged to voluntarily reduce water usage, officials said.

One last thing: Residents can find out more about the drought contingency plan and how to calculate their own water usage by visiting the city’s website.

From car shows to business celebrations, here are seven Katy and Fulshear area events to add to your calendar this August and September.

Fulshear Cars and Coffee: Residents are invited to bring their cars to enjoy coffee and donuts at this showcase event. There will also be a “Kidz Korner” for local children to sell snacks and crafts.

• Aug. 29, 8:30-11 a.m.

• Free (admission)

• 5005 Lodge Lake Drive, Fulshear

33rd Annual Katy Triathlon: Athletes can participate in a triathlon, duathlon or aquabike event supporting the Katy Rotary Club.

• Sept. 6, 7:30 a.m.

• Costs vary

• 24566 Kingsland Blvd., Katy

Project Halo Brewing Anniversary: Celebrate the fourth anniversary of Project Halo Brewery with food, drinks, merchandise and live music. The event will also feature the release of a new beer commemorating the occasion.

• Sept. 19, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. and Sept. 20, noon-8 p.m.

• Free (entry)

• 6510 FM 359, Ste. 300, Fulshear

Smash City Burgers will host a grand opening event Aug. 29-30 for its new Katy location, officials announced in an Aug. 19 Facebook post.

On the menu: The halal eatery offers a variety of smash burgers, hotdogs, wings and loaded fries, according to its website. Guests can also enjoy several specialty milkshakes with flavors such as berry bomb and biscoff.

Zooming out: The late night restaurant has five locations across Texas and Louisiana including a Houston location on Westheimer Road, per its website.

• 1950 N. Fry Road, Katy

Harris County commissioners are slated to discuss debt service payments, planning studies and capital improvements at its Aug. 25 business court meeting. 

At a glance: The court will consider about $235.6 million in debt service payments for September and October, per the agenda. The payments will cover Harris County road bonds, permanent improvement bonds, Harris County Flood Control District bonds and Flood Contract Tax bonds. 

In other news: Three planning studies will also be up for discussion during the Aug. 25 meeting. Harris County Housing and Community Development is requesting $150,000 for the Resilience Hubs study, which will evaluate the creation of community spaces to provide daily and disaster response services. The other two studies, which the agenda does not provide details on, will look at projects in Precinct 4 and cost $1.4 million.

Texas’ audit of hundreds of proposed data centers will likely wrap up by the end of the year, grid officials said Aug. 20.

The overview: Up to 300 proposals will be audited to ensure they meet certain criteria before the data centers can begin connecting to the state electric grid. If all the plans are approved, these facilities alone could use about 200 gigawatts of electricity—more than twice Texas’ 91-gigawatt peak demand record, which was set on July 22.

How we got here: On Aug. 3, Gov. Greg Abbott directed ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas to audit proposed data centers regarding their water and electricity use; tax exemptions; impacts on residents; and facility ownership.

More details: Only large loads, or facilities that are expected to use at least 75 megawatts of electricity, will be fully audited. However, ERCOT will also survey proposed data centers that would use 25 megawatts of electricity or more.

ERCOT plans to release reports detailing the results of the audit and surveys on Dec. 10, officials said.