Cheney imposes water restrictions

The city of Cheney Monday morning ordered its residents to stop using water for outdoor irrigation of lawns through noon Wednesday. Gardens are not covered by the restriction. A power outage for 15 hours on Sunday caused pumps in two of the city’s water wells to stop working. That led to a depletion of water reservoirs at the same time that the water system is seeing high demand because of the hot weather. The power outage on an Inland Power and Light Co. line has been restored, but it will take at least one day to rebuild reservoir levels, city officials said in a news release this morning. Eastern Washington University, which has its own water system, is not affected by the city restrictions. City officials asked that residents use water wisely. They also are encouraging residents to draw irrigation water every other day based on address numbers. Even-numbered homes would water on even-numbered days while odd-numbered homes would water on odd-numbered days. Watering during the heat of the day is discouraged since a large amount of the water is lost to evaporation. Applying water in the early morning hours when temperatures are low and humidity levels are higher is more efficient, the city said. For updates and additional information on the Cheney water system, go to the city’s web site at www.cityofcheney.org.