Cities encouraged to conserve water
POST FALLS – Summer temperatures bring on backyard rib barbecuing and also have the tendency to make water hogs of even the best of us.
But Post Falls water conservation efforts are being held up as an example for other local municipalities reliant on the Spokane Valley/Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer for their water.
For the past few years summer landscape watering in Post Falls has been prohibited between noon and 6 p.m.
During those hottest hours of the day, as much as 50 percent of the water applied to a lawn can be lost to evaporation, and irrigation is one of the top uses for water during the summer.
“They’re the only municipality over the aquifer enforcing a mandatory water conservation measure,” said Barry Rosenberg, executive director of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance.
So far the city has only had to cite one person for violating the watering ban, and that was only after several warnings, said Post Falls Public Works Director Terry Werner.
“For the most part we’ve had good compliance,” Werner said.
The Kootenai Environmental Alliance would like to see other towns take the same approach and to also see the prohibited hours extended to 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
In addition to the mandatory no-watering hours, Post Falls officials are encouraging residents to take other actions to save water.
Werner said his department is asking people to follow an even/odd watering schedule. Those with odd number addresses are asked to water on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while those with even number addresses are asked to water on only Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
“You don’t need to water every day,” Werner said.
In fact, lawns do better if they are watered less frequently because it encourages their roots to grow deeper. That helps lawns avoid being burnt in the heat.
Saving water is in each homeowner’s interests since it means a lower water bill each month.
It’s also in the Post Falls’ interests.
Water rights are a key issue for cities in the region, and conserving is a good way to preserve capacity and make a case for more capacity, Werner said.
“If they see a bunch of waste going on, you’re going to see a lot of complaints about water rights applications,” he said of other competing water users.
The city has water rights to about 14 million gallons of water a day, just 3 million more per day than what’s used during peak summer times.
“That’s one of the reasons we’re trying to conserve,” Werner said. “So the city of Post Falls can continue to grow.”
Watering restrictions
Post Falls residents with odd number addresses are asked to water on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while those with even number addresses are asked to water on only Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.