Bellevue urges
residents to conserve water
City reserves
drained by excessive consumption
By GREGORY
FOLEY
Express Staff Writer
Prompted
by a lengthy heat wave and sporadic dips in water reserves, Bellevue
City Council members on Thursday enacted two new measures to get
residents to conserve water over the long term.
After
being asked by Mayor John Barton to examine the city’s ability to meet
water demands, the panel approved a program for the city to purchase a
supply of small flags that can be placed on the lawns of residents to
ask them to conserve water.
The flags
will likely be placed only on the lawns of those who are seen violating
the city’s existing irrigation regulations, which demand that property
owners only irrigate every other day and operate sprinklers only between
midnight and 5 a.m.
Council
members also approved a plan to post printed flyers around town, asking
all residents to use less water. The panel opted not to have city
officials mail the flyer to all residents, but showed support for
sending the notice to townspeople next year to tell them that water
supplies in the area could at times fall short of demand.
Indeed,
in a report to the council Thursday on the state of the city’s water
system, Councilman Jon Wilkes said that the city supply reached a
critically low level during the weekend of July 13, when water in the
city’s primary storage tank dropped enough to sound an emergency
alarm.
The water
level in the tank—which holds about 1 million gallons of treated
water, mainly from three city springs in Muldoon Canyon—fell below
seven feet during the warm spell, Wilkes said, noting that he believes
that too many residents are wasting water.
"The
problem must be resolved in the near future, or we’re going to have
problems every summer," he said." The situation, I believe, is
quite dire."
Wilkes
noted that such episodes are not necessarily the product of an overall
supply shortage, but is the combined result of periodical overuse and
certain flaws in the water system infrastructure. Of particular concern
is the water tank’s main intake pipe, which has less capacity than the
pipe that sends water out to consumers. Wilkes said.
Wilkes
also called for a set of rules to be established, outlining what city
officials should do in the event of future reserve shortfalls.
City
administrator Jack Stoneback shared some of Wilkes’ concerns on
Monday. "We need people to know that there is only so much water
that can be delivered to them at one time," he said.
Barton
asked the council on Thursday whether the city needs to implement
emergency water-use restrictions for the remainder of the summer season
to ensure that reserves are not threatened.
However,
council members opted not to employ additional restrictions, noting that
the city needs to acquire more data on water production and consumption
before the use policy is changed.
Councilwoman
Tammy Schofield said after the meeting that she believes the situation
is indeed serious.
"It’s
beyond going to your sink and turning on the faucet and knowing you have
water," she said. "It’s our most precious natural resource,
and we have to learn how to protect it."