Seattle’s regional water supply conditions have improved in the past 30 days and that’s good news for the water planners at Seattle Public Utilities (SPU).
“While we still need customers to voluntarily reduce their water use, our mountain reservoirs are beginning to slowly refill and that helps me sleep better at night,” said SPU Water Resources Manager Elizabeth Garcia.
SPU’s two mountain reservoirs have stayed close to the same levels over the past week but have steadily been increasing since the beginning of November.
Data from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) show how water levels have risen in both the Chester Morse Lake Reservoir in the Cedar River Watershed and the South Fork Tolt Reservoir in the Tolt River Watershed.
Another good substantial rain event (at least 4 inches) will bring Chester Morse Lake Reservoir up to normal for this time of year. The South Fork Tolt Reservoir would also benefit from that amount of rain and more to make up for the 20-foot deficit and extremely dry summer.
Water Usage Down
Customers are also doing their part to help improve the region’s water supply by using less water and SPU encourages them to keep it up.
We’ve almost reached our goal of using 100 million gallons (mgd) of water or less each day. As of November 27, the regional consumption is 101 mgd!
Below are some ways to use less water. You can also go to savingwater.org for more water-saving tips or download our updated multilingual tips flyers for saving water at home or at your business.
Water-Saving Tips:
- Reduce rinsing, scrape your plate and let the dishwasher do the rest.
- Shorten your shower. Save 2 gallons for every minute you shave off your shower.
- Don’t leave the tap running. Turn off the water while shaving and brushing your teeth.
- Use a broom. Sweep to clean patios and sidewalks instead of using a hose or power washer.
- Run full loads. Wait to run your washing machine or dishwasher until it’s full.
Learn more:
Check out our At Your Service blog for previous updates:
- 1.5 Million People Asked to Use Less Water to Stretch Region’s Water Supply (September 21)
- Has the Rain Helped the Region’s Water Supply? Are Customers Using Less Water? (October 2)
- Seattle Residents and Businesses Keep Taking Water Savings to the Next Level (October 10)
- Reservoir Levels and Rainfall – Two Key Factors in Seattle’s Continued Ask to Reduce Water Use (October 16)
- Keep it Up! Water Usage Is Dropping and Here Are More Ways to Save Water (October 23)
- Water for People and Fish. Each Gallon Saved Keeps More Water in Our Rivers and Lakes for Fish and Wildlife (October 30)
- Customers Share Water-Saving Tips, Plus Alex Chen Talks Water Supply and Climate Change (November 6)
- Seattle-Area Sees 44-Million-Gallon-Per-Day Drop in Water Usage – Inching Closer to The Regional Goal (November 13)
Stay tuned for our next update on the region’s water supply, which will be published on this blog on Monday, December 11. For more details about the region’s water supply, check SPU’s Water Supply Conditions web page, updated weekly.