Farmington Secondary Water Source Could Dry Up By September
Jul 11, 2018, 6:25 PM | Updated: 9:19 pm
FARMINGTON – Secondary water that is typically allotted for September and October, in the Benchland Water District is already gone, according to water managers. It’s so bad that the supplier has already tapped into its backup reservoir to try and make it through the season.
A reservoir, maintained by Benchland Water District, in the benches above Farmington.
“Between the 20th of May and the 23rd of May, the streams just dropped their flows just completely off,” General Manager, Scott Parsell said. “We’ve had some pretty tight years, but never like this.”
Parsell has worked with the water district for about 35 years, and he says if customers don’t change their watering habits, the supply could soon be gone for the year. As a result Benchland, has issued a restriction, banning watering during the weekends.
“We’re hoping to save enough water to make it into the end of September,” Parsell said. “But it’s bad. It’s severe for us.”
Scott Parsell, General Manager, Benchland Water District
An announcement on the water district’s website says snowpack in the area, that usually runs about 60 percent of normal was down to 20 percent of normal this year. On top of that, increased demands on the system because of growth in the area are taxing the system. Currently, Benchland Water customers use roughly 30 million gallons of water a day.
“We’re asking people to cut back 35 percent for the rest of the summer,” Parsell said.
The watering restriction for weekends, runs from 8 a.m. Saturday mornings to 8 a.m. on Monday. Citations will be issued to violators at $50 for the first offense and $250 for the second. After a third offense, secondary water will be shut off at the user’s home.
Flow from the only creek that runs into Benchland Water District’s main reservoir slowed significantly, according to managers.
