Sammamish limits use of dwindling well water

E-mail this article Print this article

With water wells running low, the 16,000-customer Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District yesterday imposed limits on when and how people can water their yards.

The mandatory restrictions are the first ever in Sammamish, where rapid growth and a dry winter have kept wells from refilling. Unlike Seattle and most of its suburbs, which are supplied by relatively full mountain reservoirs, the Plateau relies on its own underground supply.

Water commissioners voted 3-0 Monday night to limit water use, which they warned about last winter.

"This decision was not arrived at lightly," district manager Ron Little said. "Our customers have done well with voluntary conservation and have reduced consumption by 11 percent. But, unfortunately, this is not enough."

In the past few weeks, water use declined, and rainfall provided some help. The area has a spotty conservation record: There were no savings in either a 1992 drought or a well-publicized dryout last summer of the nearby north fork of Issaquah Creek.

Little blamed the shortage in part on state Department of Ecology officials, who have resisted district requests to extract more well water. Ecology has fought ground-water development statewide because of a risk that less water would be available to seep into salmon streams.

Among the restrictions in Sammamish:

• No yard watering between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

• Grass watering only every third day, based on a district calendar available at www.sammplat.wa.org. Shrubs and flowers may be watered any day (before 10 a.m. and after 7 p.m.) with a nozzle-equipped hose.

• No water allowed in fountains and ponds, except those containing live fish.

• A ban on driveway and sidewalk washing.

Warnings will be issued at first, followed by fines that escalate from $50 to $1,000 for repeat violations.

Mike Lindblom can be reached at 206-515-5631 or mlindblom@seattletimes.com.