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 too could be contributing to the decrease, he said.

The report shows total pumping by the major pumping entities declined 5.2 percent from 2007. The 2008 aggregate total pumping for Pullman, Moscow, Colfax, Palouse, WSU and UI was 2.63 billion gallons.

This figure represents a 5.2 percent reduction from 2007, and a 14.9 percent reduction from 1992, the year the pumpers first enacted a regional Ground Water Management Plan. Committee

Chair Paul Kimmell attributes the reduction to “a combination of municipal efficiencies, water rate structures that encourage conservation, cooler and wetter summer weather and a continued awareness by the public of our water resources.”

The Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee is a voluntary cooperative with representatives from the cities, counties and universities within the Palouse groundwater basin.

Detailed 2008 pumping figures can be found in the annual water use report, available at the PBAC Web site.