Hot spell, heavy use led to ML water restrictions

MOSES LAKE — A sudden hot spell that caused Moses Lake residents to use more water than usual on lawns and gardens led to a temporary request from city officials to limit irrigation. City officials say the restrictions could be lifted soon, but there's no specific date.

“People listened” to city officials’ request to dial back their watering, said Fred Snoderly, municipal services director. Water restrictions don't happen often, but they have happened, he said.

Temperatures hit triple digits the first week in July and stayed in the high 90s for a few days, which led residents to increase the water they put on lawns and gardens, Snoderly said. “Everybody started watering all at once.”

At peak water use, city residents were using more than 16 million gallons of water per day, said city engineer Richard Law. He compared that with winter use, when nobody’s watering the lawn or washing the car. Typically water use in winter is less than 4 million gallons per day, Law explained.

The city’s wells were pumping around the clock, Snoderly said. The high demand came at a time when a couple of the city’s pumps were having mechanical trouble, and the city’s equipment was having a hard time keeping up, he added.

Water use dropped substantially after the restrictions request. In the 24 hours following the restrictions, water use dropped by 2.6 million gallons, Snoderly said.

“The city does appreciate the folks cooperating with what we’ve asked them to do,” he said.

The city uses deep wells and not surface water, and as a result water use isn’t affected by weather and stream conditions, Law said.

Cities are required to have water rights in order to pump water, and some cities have run up against the limits of their water rights as they grew. Law said Moses Lake doesn’t have that problem, at least not now. “We have sufficient water rights for the current (size) and many years into the future,” he said, The bigger question for city officials will be expanding the existing delivery system, wells, pumps and water lines, as the city expands, Law added.

There are effective ways to water lawns that cut down on water use and still keeps it green, Snoderly said. Watering between 5 to 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m. is more effective than using sprinklers in the middle of the day. When it’s hot outside, “all you’re doing is steaming your grass.”

Grass can survive without being watered every day, he said, and in fact might be better off with slightly different watering techniques. Snoderly suggested watering grass about every three days, and running the water “a little longer.” The grass grows deeper roots as a result. Keeping the grass slightly longer also helps, he said,

People who want more information on efficient watering can check the website of the American Water Works Association.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.