Seattle lifts water-use warnings

They don't want everyone to go out and run a bath, but Seattle city officials said yesterday that the summer drought is over and local reservoirs are at levels sufficient for humans and fish.

Since the city asked for voluntary conservation measures in April, customers of the regional water system Seattle runs have saved more than 4 billion gallons by taking shorter showers, cutting down on lawn watering and installing water-saving devices such as low-flow shower heads.

"They answered the challenge," said Mayor Paul Schell, at a news conference yesterday at Volunteer Park.

When cooler, wetter autumn weather arrives, officials expect the city's mountain reservoirs in the Tolt and Cedar watersheds to be filled enough to supply drinking water and enhance conditions for salmon returning to spawn.

While flows on the Cedar and Tolt rivers may increase come fall and winter, it won't affect power supplies for the city of Seattle because its hydroelectric dams are on different rivers.

Schell said Seattle residents have been conserving about 27 million gallons of water a day, more than enough to fill the entire Volunteer Park reservoir, which holds 21 million gallons.

Seattle Public Utilities Superintendent Diana Gale said the bulk of savings came from residential conservation and the utility's own efforts, such as using less water for flushing reservoirs and pipes.

The city called for voluntary conservation to prevent mandatory water rationing such as occurred in summer 1992. Yesterday, officials said the voluntary measures are no longer necessary but cautioned that conservation is a good idea all the time.

"I want to thank everyone who pitched in and encourage citizens to continue to conserve water as a part of their daily lives," Schell said.

Jim Brunner can be reached at 206-464-5628 or jbrunner@seattletimes.com.