PORT TOWNSEND — With a dry summer draining water resources, city officials are asking residents to voluntarily conserve water.
The word from Ian Jablonski, Port Townsend water resources asset manager, came Thursday when Port Townsend Paper mill began to pare its consumption.
The city typically uses a little less than 1 million gallons per day compared to the mill’s 14 million gallons per day.
“As of today, the mill has cut back on water use because of river levels, particularly the Big Quilcene,” said Jablonski.
“It’s strictly a dry time of year. It’s pretty normal rain patterns.”
4 million gallon cutback
The mill is scheduled by next week to cut its usage by 4 million gallons per day, Jablonski said.
This summer’s rainfall — 1.5 inches measured at Mount Craig on the ridgeline between the Big Quilcene and Dosewallips River watersheds — came during July, said Jablonski.
When the Big Quilcene’s flow drops to 27 cubic feet per second, which has not yet occurred, Port Townsend water use comes from reservoirs that include City Lake near Discovery Bay.
Minimum river levels must be maintained to benefit spawning salmon, Jablonski said.
The Little Quilcene River diversion recharges Lords Lake and then reservoir water is mixed with the Big Quilcene flow through the pipeline.
The city will be drawing all water from Lords Lake by next week, said Jablonski.
In the past, the city has been able to draw about two months of water out of Lords Lake before fall rains returned.
Last year, however, rain did not fall until November, which threatened the city’s water supply.
Port Townsend is now using about 1.7 million gallons per day. For August, the city is averaging about 1.9 million gallons per day, said Jablonski.
