By Pat Jenkins The Dispatch Water suppliers in south Pierce County, faced with hot, dry weather that shows no sign of chilling out soon, are asking customers to either stop or cut back on watering their lawns. Officials for systems serving Eatonville and the Graham and Spanaway areas aren't saying supplies will run dry, but they note that turning on the taps prudently will help ensure there is enough water for everyone for the highest priorities. In Eatonville, voluntary water conservation among customers of the municipal water system is being requested. Ideally, they shouldn't water lawns or use water for any other non-essential purposes, officials said. The town's water comes from wells and the Mashell River. The supply is adequate, but the prospect of a long, hot summer that's already underway makes conserving the "common sense" thing to do, said Doug Beagle, the town administrator. He noted the Mashell's flow is low because the snowpack in the Cascades, which wasn't as much as usual last winter, has melted off. The town has done its part to conserve water by turning off the automatic sprinklers at Nevitt and Mill Pond parks. Also helping the cause is the Eatonville School District, the town's largest non-residential customer. The district has curtailed watering of lawns and fields at its five schools. Meanwhile, Graham Hill Mutual Water wants its customers on the east side of Meridian to limit their outdoor watering to even-numbered days of the month. Customers on the west side get odd-numbered days. The district notes that individual customers doing outdoor watering consume five to 10 gallons of water per minute. Spanaway Water Company has a similar schedule for its customers and also urges them to give up trying to revive lawns that have turned brown. Officials have advised customers that record high use of water in June has reduced water levels in storage tanks enough to possibly hamper firefighting, although there is enough water available. They said residents should water lawns and bushes on even-numbered and odd-numbered days based on their house numbers, and brown lawns won't go back to green "unless you are willing to spend literally hundreds of dollars to water the turf.GÇ¥ The Spanaway system draws water from 11 wells in the Chambers and Clover Creek watershed.
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