Area water usage increased by one percent according to first look

Garth Meyer, Gazette Reporter | Jan 22, 20150

In preliminary results, water usage in Pullman, Moscow and Palouse increased one percent from 2013 to 2014.

The Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee (PBAC) held its monthly meeting Jan. 15 on the campus of University of Idaho and went over the numbers.

A total of 2.45 billion gallons of water were used in the three communities, which also includes the campuses of University of Idaho and WSU.

The early results show a range of increases and decreases, including a 2.3 percent bump in Palouse, and a 4.5 percent drop for the University of Idaho.

The changes have not been attributed to any particular cause.

“When we’re at that small of percentages, it’s hard to tell because we don’t measure what happens to the water after it leaves the well,” said Steve Robischon of Moscow, Executive Director of PBAC.

The city of Palouse is served by two wells, of which PBAC uses the information about how much water gets pumped out of the ground. The tavern fire in April used an estimated half million gallons of water, according to Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove.

That alone doesn’t account for the difference as Palouse used 58 million gallons of water in 2014 compared to 56.7 million in 2013.

Last year’s dry September, however, could have been a contributing factor. In 2014, Palouse pumped 5.9 million gallons out of the ground that month compared to 4.7 million in September 2013.

As far as any decreases in the area, such as at University of Idaho, Robischon indicated that there is no known reason for them either.

“I don’t know that anybody made a major move last year,” he said, as far as new conservation efforts or projects.

Regarding the overall increase of one percent, Robischon pointed to a key difference in the two years that made up at least part of the increase, a much dryer September 2014 than 2013.

Water for these communities in question comes from two main aquifers, the Wannapum and the Grande Ronde.

“A water-bearing piece of earth that’s underground,” said Robischon, defining what an aquifer is.

The PBAC group has been tracking local water usage since 1992. Today, after conservation efforts including fixing of leaks and upgrading equipment systems, the total usage in 2014 is 11 percent less than 1992 – even with a significantly larger population.

Robischon indicated that most of the conservation work to be done has already taken place.

“It gets harder and harder to save water as you go,” he said.

More efficient, low-flow toilets and conserving water fixtures can always save more.

“It’s important to save water, just by peoples’ behaviors to use less water,” Robischon said.