By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
The steady pleas for water conservation seem to be having an effect, according to officials with the Orange Water and Sewer Authority. So much so that the areas served by the utility may not see the same kind of mandatory conservation requirements as other locales.
As of Wednesday, OWASA’s daily account of how full its lakes are showed that University Lake is 53 inches below full and Cane Creek Reservoir 45.5 inches below full — about 76.7 percent of their capacity.
Ed Holland, planning director for OWASA, says that should be enough to get through the rest of the peak-demand season.
“The lakes are going down as you would expect them to do, but we should have plenty to get through this season,†Holland said. It’s next year, though, that has Holland and others keeping a nervous eye on the gauges and the weather.
“We have a lot of storage capacity so it takes our lakes a long time to drain. But it also takes them a long time to fill.â€
The lakes will typically refill in the winter, but a dry winter could make next summer difficult.
“We want to encourage people to continue to conserve,†Holland said. “Whatever we save now is water we may need next summer.â€
Holland says rain early this summer helped start the traditional period of high water use with a good amount of capacity.
In addition to favorable weather, OWASA’s efforts to encourage voluntary conservation appear to be paying off, he said.
“Our peak use has decreased over the last few years,†he said. OWASA usually sees a spike in demand as summer wears on and lawns and gardens dry out. Holland said that encouraging customers to water in the mornings or evenings and water every other day rather than daily has likely helped flatten the demand curve a bit. And, he says, there’s not a lot of complaining about it.
“We’re hearing from people that their lawns haven’t suffered,†he said.
For information about OWASA’s year-round conservation standards, visit owasa.org/pages/yearroundconserv03.asp
Lake levels, capacity estimates and daily usage are available at owasa.org/pages/waterwatch.asp