PORT ANGELES — Fairview Water System customers could face mandatory outdoor water restrictions and indoor conservation if the streamflow in Morse Creek drops below 25 cubic feet per second.
Clallam County Public Utility District commissioners unanimously gave their staff the authority Monday to declare a Stage 3 water shortage in Fairview if Morse Creek’s water level drops further.
“It doesn’t seem like we have much choice,” said Commissioner Will Purser.
Clallam PUD operates Fairview along with eight other water systems serving about 3,800 customers: Gales, Mount Angeles, Monroe, Carlsborg, Clallam, Panoramic, Evergreen and Island View.
Fairview serves about 1,400 customers east of Port Angeles’ eastern urban growth area, which ends at Morse Creek.
Clallam PUD Water Superintendent Mike Kitz said if a Stage 3 water shortage is declared, customers would be notified by telephone and Clallam PUD crews would enforce the rules.
Customers found in violation ultimately could be shut off if they don’t comply, he said.
Kitz said if a Stage 3 water shortage is declared, it will be “until further notice.”
Notified by Ecology
Kitz said he was notified by a state Department of Ecology representative that Morse Creek’s streamflow had dropped to 25 cubic feet per second, and the PUD had to shut down its Fairview system that is supplied by the creek.
Morse Creek usually flows between 38 and 62 cubic feet per second during August, but last winter’s lack of snow in the Olympics has kept flows in all tributaries low this summer.
