Coeur d’Alene residents asked to restrict water usage
COUER D’ALENE, Idaho — To keep gardens green, many across the Coeur d’Alene area are running their sprinklers, but with high temperatures beating down, Terry Pickel, Director of Coeur d’Alene’s Water Department explained it’s becoming an issue.
“We have limited pump capacity, 43.8 million gallons per day and on July 1st we hit 42.76 million gallons so we’re bumping right up against our pump capacity,” Pickel said.
While there’s enough water in the aquifer, 75 percent of the pump capacity is all being used for irrigation, which is why he’s asking residents to be mindful.
“We’re asking our customers to consider doing voluntary reductions in watering by watering every other day, odd-even watering schedules and not to water during the heat of the day which is usually from noon to 6 pm,” Pickel said.
A large part of it has to do with the historic heatwave the region saw last week.
“This year with the dry conditions and the early heatwave, we’ve been pumping between two and three times what we normally pump this time of year,” Pickel said.
Right now, they’re asking for a voluntary cutback. However, if need be, Pickel said they would institute a mandatory watering restriction.
The City of Spokane, while doesn’t have the same pumping issue, is asking residents to follow similar restrictions.
More information on how to conserve water can be found here.
PAST COVERAGE: Water usage in Coeur d’Alene could be restricted if calls for conservation continue to go unanswered
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