While North Bend and the greater Puget Sound region experienced a wetter and cooler than normal start to summer, the dry, warm season is now in full swing in the Snoqualmie Valley.
The upcoming hot weather forecast is a good reminder of the importance of water conservation to help protect the Snoqualmie River.
In June the North Bend City Council adopted a Water Conservation Ordinance as an effort to be good stewards of the environment and preserve a limited natural resource. The city’s goal is to effect water conservation through education.
During the driest months – typically mid- August through mid- October – much of the additional water used by residents is for outdoor needs. There are some simple things homeowners can do to conserve water, help the environment and lower their water bills. These tips can be implemented outdoors during the dry months and indoors all year long.
The City of North Bend is committed to water conservation and protecting the surrounding natural beauty of the Snoqualmie Valley. The City Council thanks residents for their contribution to this city-wide effort that it believes will become a conservation example across the region.
Tips to Conserve Outdoor Water Use:
- Reduce lawn size (lawns use 40-50% of summer water).
- Enrich soils with 3-4 inches of compost worked into the top foot of soil prior to planting.
- Dethatch and aerate lawns for better water absorption.
- Mow lawns no shorter than 2 inches.
- Leave grass clippings on the lawn. They’re 90% water and provide nitrogen.
- Use soaker hoses or drip systems.
- Discontinue lawn irrigation during dry weather or water at night /early in the morning.
- Check hoses and sprinkler systems for leaks and fix promptly.
- Include a rain sensor and a soil moisture sensor in automatic sprinkler systems.
- Use a broom or leaf blower to clean the driveway or patio instead of a hose.
- Wash the car using a bucket of soapy water and a hose with shut off nozzle to rinse.
- Consider kid pop-up pools that have a pump/filter system and a solar cover to keep the pool clean and the water warm.
Tips to Conserve Indoor Water Use:
- Fix leaks promptly – little drips can waste lots of water and increase water bills.
- Install “water displacement devices” in older toilet tanks.
- Replace older toilets; newer models use only 1.5 gal to flush.
- Replace showerheads with a low flow model.
- Capture shower warm-up water for other uses like watering plants.
Comments
A more scientific approach would be to store the excess rainfall during the nine rainy months every year, to be used during the three dry months. This ingenious invention is known as a “water table,” and is accessed via a “well.”
Right, and people are using so much water (a public resource) via pumping of public and private wells, that the water table drops, and then rivers and streams drop too, because they are fed by the same “water table” as the wells. And did you know that folks often use the scientific name of “aquifer” instead of “water table,” and that it’s a limited supply that supports people, fish, and wildlife through our annual droughts, making conservation a wise thing to strive for.