City offer helpful signs to water users

At the start of this week, the conservation meter's needle rested squarely in the Yellow ("High--No Lawn Watering"). According to the color code published on the city's Web site, Yellow means "The city is experiencing difficulty meeting its water needs. There is no outside use of water except the hand watering or drip irrigation of plants, shrubs and gardens. There will be no commercial use of water such as dust abatement, power washing, etc."

Mayor David Poucher said Tuesday the city will be updating the Web link weekly, as new information becomes available. The good news, he noted, is that water conservation is working; the city's reservoirs are staying in the "safe zone."

"We've had a tremendous amount of conservation" since the city issued its water restrictions in late June, Poucher said. "Just in looking at our June reading compared to June 2006, we've conserved 10 million gallons. That's a lot of conservation."

Meanwhile, the city's Public Works Department is awaiting a new water depth sensor for its Well No. 2--the well that stopped producing water on June 27 and necessitated the emergency conservation measures now in effect. The part, called a probe, senses the well's water depth and tells the pump when to draft water.

"We have ordered a new probe; it must be special ordered as it is not an off-the-shelf device. It is scheduled to be here the middle of July," wrote Poucher for the city's online "Water Update."

In the meantime, Well No. 2 is back on line and yielding 150 to 200 gallons per minute (GPM) through an artesian effect by which water is forced up by pressure of underground water draining from higher ground.

"Our public works people are still working with the well and there is hope that the well may be able to produce a little more water" to complement the 625 GPM coming from Well No. 1, Poucher wrote.

In a related matter, the city council last week voted 5-0 to allow the White Salmon Valley School District to irrigate some of its athletic fields on a limited basis.

"After consulting with their risk management, the school district came to us and advised us that, if they didn't water the fields, because the soils have a heavy clay content, the fields would harden up and they wouldn't be able to have any field sports until the fall rains fell," Poucher explained.

The council, he said, took that into consideration in granting a conditional exception to the city's emergency water use restrictions.

"They're going to irrigate only at night and if we're having a problem with our system, they won't water," Poucher said and added, "I think the council was speaking for the community when it made the decision. We all felt, after listening to the school district's concerns, that allowing this was a win-win for the community. We looked at it the same way we did when we put water in the swimming pool."

In Bingen, the voluntary water conservation measures established by the city on June 30 remain in effect.

The notice issued by city officials asks customers to water lawns, gardens and landscaping between 6-9 a.m. and 6-9 p.m.; to use a shut-off nozzle when washing vehicles; and to refrain from washing down driveways or sidewalks.