Hoping to proactively manage the heavy water use that comes with the warmer months, the city of Battle Ground is asking its residents to voluntarily limit how often they turn their faucets on.
Beginning Friday and lasting until Sept. 30, the city of Battle Ground is implementing a voluntary Odd/Even Watering (irrigation) Program for all residential, commercial and public customers, according to a news release.
Under the program, water customers with addresses ending in an odd number are asked to limit the days they can irrigate or water their property to Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Customers with addresses ending in even numbers are asked to water or irrigate only on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays.
Everyone is asked not to water on Fridays.
Exceptions for the program include vegetable gardens, newly planted lawns and potted or hanging plants. According to a city news release, these plants may be watered as needed to prevent damage.
“The more people are using water during these summers, the more our reservoirs are being depleted, and it’s important we keep safe levels in our reservoirs,” said city spokeswoman Bonnie Gilberti.
She said that the city is rolling out the program earlier than in past years to prevent reservoirs from being depleted to unsafe levels during peak usage levels. She said that reservoirs need to be kept at adequate levels in case of fires during the summer. Keeping them from becoming depleted has been a problem in the past, she said.
The city currently uses eight wells, the maximum allowed by state regulations, to pump water from the Troutdale Aquifer and the Sand-and-Gravel Aquifer, said Gilberti.
Gilberti said that during the summer, customers use just under 3 million gallons of water a day and about half that during the rest of the year.
“An odd/even water management program is simple in its application, can save a half-million gallons of water per day, and is essential to maintain safe levels of water in the city’s reservoir tanks,” Public Works Director Scott Sawyer said in the news release.
The news release states that water production levels in the city of Battle Ground are at about 80 percent of capacity and continue to decline. To supplement the amount of water produced by the city’s wells, an intertie with Clark Public Utilities was established in July of 2014, according to the news release.
The city of Battle Ground has set up a website describing more ways to preserve water at www.cityofbg.org/conserve-water
