SEATTLE — A year of dry weather in the Puget Sound region is forcing Seattle Public Utilities to ask residents to conserve water.
Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is asking people to voluntarily reduce their water consumption at home. The request will impact more than 1 million people.
While Thursday's request is voluntary, the next steps would include mandatory water reductions until water levels return to normal. Leaders hope people will do their part now to prevent the problem from escalating.
According to Seattle Public Utilities, this is something that has only happened six times before. It was most recently implemented back in 2015.
Kelly O'Rourke with SPU's Water Conservation Team says the company's 25 water utility partners around western Washington are also being asked to reduce their water consumption.
"Right now our reservoirs are lower than we want them to be. So we are concerned about having sufficient water through the end of the year both for people and for fish," O'Rourke said. "We want our customers to reduce their water use so we can stretch the water supply."
Typically, 26 inches of rain from May through September helps fill mountain reservoirs. This year, only about a quarter of that rain fell.
There's no timeline for how long this request will last, but O'Rourke says it would take months of good rain to catch up. However, the forecast isn't promising, so it's up to people to do what they can.
"It's great that we just got some recent rain and I know there’s rain in the forecast next week for a little bit but it’s really not projected to sufficiently replenish our mountain reservoirs," O'Rourke said. "We need sustained ongoing fall rains in order to do that."
Here are some tips on how to easily reduce water consumption at home:
- Stop irrigating your lawn
- Take shorter, or even fewer showers. You can save two gallons for every minute you shave off your shower
- Check your house for any leaks
- Use a broom to clean patios and sidewalks instead of using a hose or power washer
- Use your dishwasher instead of washing by hand, but wait to run it until you have a full load