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--> --> Water use drops in city By Myles Murphy Ashland Daily Tidings Ashland residents successfully cut water use by nearly a million gallons per day through the month of August, which should extend the city's ability to provide drinking water into late October. "That drop is significant," Ashland Public Works Director Paula Brown said. "It means days of extra water." The longer the water in the reservoir holds out, the more likely that fall rains will arrive to help refill the reservoir, she said. The dry winter caused a lack of any significant snow pack in the surrounding mountains, which in turn resulted in extremely low summer stream flows into Reeder Reservoir - the source of Ashland's drinking water. City officials were aware of the problem early in the year, and in March created a no-water-waste ordinance to encourage residents to voluntarily cut water use. The no-waste provision went into effect in June, but residents continued to use about 6.5 million gallons of water a day - about a million gallons too much each day. On August 16, Stage 1 water curtailment was imposed, forcing residents to cut water use or face water rate charges four times the regular amount. Ashland yards faded to brown as people cut back water use, and the city made a number of changes, including a 20-percent drop in Ashland City Parks and Recreation Department water use, and a halt to watering the grassy medians along Siskiyou Boulevard. "I'm extremely pleased with how the community responded, and I know it hasn't been easy. I was amazed at the drop (when curtailment was instituted)," Brown said. "We had very few complaints and people really seem to understand the importance of this. That's a part of Ashland I really like." Low water levels, warm water and the use of TID water rather than Reeder Reservoir water to keep streams trickling resulted in unsafe conditions in streams such as Ashland Creek and Bear Creek. The city never opened the swimming reservoir on upper Granite Street, usually packed with people seeking shelter from the heat starting in July. At the same time water curtailment was instituted, temperatures dropped down to the 70s and 80s for about a week. Water use went down to about 4.5 million gallons a day, and when the temperatures popped up to the 90s again, water use stayed below 5 million gallons a day - which is impressive because temperatures and water use normally rise and fall together, according to Brown. "The community really pulled together," she said. As water levels at the reservoir drop, Ashland has been using about 1.4 million gallons of water a day from the Talent Irrigation District, which supplies irrigation water to rural water users in areas surrounding Ashland, Talent and Phoenix, including some users inside the Ashland city limits. Every year Ashland is allotted a certain amount of TID water, and conservation efforts helped the water last longer than expected. "We had thought early on we would probably be running out the first of September, but we're seeing really good water conservation," TID Manager Jim Pendleton said. TID water should continue to come to the city through Sept. 15, Pendleton said. "Every bit helps, and we are definitely over the hardest part" Brown said. "But we're not in the clear yet." Reeder Reservoir is about 70 percent full now. It is considered empty at 30 percent. "The biggest concern I still have is when is it going to rain?" Brown said. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing