Update: Eatonville water supply following dry months

This letter is to alert you to an imminent issue impacting the Town’s water supply.

Normally, May and June have moist cool/wet weather and few nice sunny days but this year we have had unusually dry/warm weather through May and June with no rain in the forecast. As a result, the flow in the Mashel River has plummeted through May and June to the lowest flows in recorded history (48 years) for this time of year. We are now setting a new low flow record on the Mashel River every day.

We are, understandably, very concerned about the Town’s ability to keep up with the current water demand; especially if this hot weather continues into September with no significant rainfall. At this point we are asking you to voluntarily, but immediately, cut back on your water

consumption.

Here are some things that you can do

• Significantly reduce your outdoor irrigation — grass is resilient and will come back with the rain

• Catch your sink water and use for outdoor plant watering

• Take shorter showers

• Check the settings on your washing machine and dishwasher to use less water, if possible

• Don’t use the toilet as a trash bin

We will be working with our commercial customers as well to look for water conservation opportunities. We all need to do our part to ensure that we all have a sufficient supply of water through the summer. We depend on our aquifer particularly in late summer, so saving water now saves the aquifer for use later as the river usually continues to drop.

We will keep you informed on how you are doing with your conservation efforts and how we are doing on the water supply side. Thank you for paying attention, conserving water and cooperating as a community.

Seth Boettcher is Town Administrator for Eatonville