PBAC report shows water use declines

The Palouse area has dropped its 2008 water usage by 5.2 percent from the previous year. Pumping figures for 2008 were released Oct. 23 by the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee (PBAC).

The 2008 year was considerably cooler and wetter than the previous year, said PBAC executive manager Steve Robischon. The increase in water and decrease in evaporation naturally offset the ratio of people’s water usage.

This is one source of the 5.2 percent drop, he said.

Plus, Robischon said, the city of Moscow in 2007 imposed a restriction on people’s outdoor water use during the warmer months of the year. This...