West Plains gears for hot summer

Cities throughout Washington state, including the West Plains, are gearing up for another hot summer.

In May, Gov. Jay Inslee declared an drought emergency for the state. According to the Washington state Department of Ecology, the declaration comes after Inslee’s Emergency Water Executive Committee determined that 48 of 62 watersheds in Washington have water supplies of 75 percent of normal or below and water users are, or are expected to experience hardships from water shortages.

With the drought emergency in place, cities in the West Plains have already enacted water conservation measures.

The city of Cheney has already reached out to residents about conservation methods through its newsletter.

“Last year was kind of a hot spell and we had to rehab one of our wells,” Cheney Public Works Director Todd Ableman said. “Right now we’re kind of hanging in there. If we start these methods early, we can make it through the summer.” If citizens use more water, we may have to do extended conservation.”

Ableman said the city recommends that an established lawn use about an inch of water per week and residents with sprinkler systems should adjust accordingly.

“If you’re unsure how much, we recommend they take an empty tuna can and measure how long it takes their sprinkler to fill it with an inch of water,” Ableman said. “We also suggest if there is a shaded area that they not water it as much as they would an open area.”

Ableman added that city parks and schools districts use the most water. The city is working with the schools on cutting back during the summer.

Another suggestion is that residents with addresses with odd numbers should water on odd days while properties with even numbers water on even days, a method the city used last year. Residents should water before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m.

On June 1, the city of Medical Lake enacted their water restrictions times, from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. The restriction lasts until September.

“During that time of day (10 a.m. – 7 p.m.) when you water your lawn, you lose the most of it due to evaporation,” City Administrator Doug Ross said. “That’s why we have those times.”

Like Cheney, Ross said the city coordinates with the Medical Lake School District to cut back on irrigating their fields.

“We also do not irrigate the parks as much during the summer,” Ross said. “We may get complaints from residents because the lawns at the parks aren’t as green but it’s not because of laziness. It’s because we’re cutting back on irrigation.”

Ross said Medical Lake is also talking with the city of Spokane to hook up an intertie to a water main as an emergency water source.

“Some folks may ask ‘why don’t we just drill another well?’ but it’s not that simple,” Ross said. “We could drill another well but we are still drawing water from the aquifer. It’s like putting more straws in the same glass of water.”

Ross said residents can also cut back on water usage in simple ways such as turning off the faucet instead of leaving it running.

The city of Airway Heights has similar restrictions for day-to-day irrigation with the principal reason being water conservation. City Manager Albert Tripp said there are exceptions to the restrictions, such as if a resident or a business is installing new landscape.

“Residents can also request an exemption through the public works director,” Tripp said.

Tripp added that the city is working on methods to helps educate residents on water conservation. It is also getting ready to redevelop and adopt its water use efficiency goals for the next six years.

Al Stover can be reached at [email protected].