Cda Asks Residents To Slow Water Usage

For the first time in decades, the city of Coeur d’Alene is asking residents to cut back on their water usage until the heat wave ends.

The city pumped 23 million gallons of water Monday, Water Department Superintendent Jim Markley said.

That’s dangerously close to the city’s capacity of 23.5 million or 24 million gallons, he said.

Residents are asked to water their lawns every other day.

“It’s real minor conservation,” Markley said.

“Don’t leave the sprinkler running all night. Don’t water the street.”

Coeur d’Alene set a water-use record last Wednesday, consuming 24 million gallons. That has forced the city to pump water from a tainted well on Hanley Avenue.

But tests show that carcinogen levels at the well are the lowest in four years.