City's water supply not too low

The unseasonably high temperatures and low streaflows combined with the city’s lack of water storage due to the construction of the new Flower Creek Dam have city officials paying close attention to water use this summer. City Administrator Jim Hammons said that while the city has cut back on public watering, water restrictions for residents have not yet been imposed.

“From the historic data gathered from the old United States Geological Survey gauging station above the dam, back in 1977 was one of the driest years on record,” Hammons said. “This year we are still above those averages for this time period. The flows have been coming down ever so slightly, but we still have enough water to supply the water treatment plant. The city has cut back on irrigation to the parks, cemetery and boulevard, but have not put any water restrictions on the public.”

Paul Burnham, an engineer with Morrison-Maierle Inc. and contracted by the city, said the city and the engineers are watching the situation closely. He agrees with Hammons’ assessment that any public restrictions would be premature at this point.

Burnham said the city’s average demand for water consumes about three cubic feet per second of the streamflow from Flower Creek. The creek, he said, has been running between 15 and 18 cubic feet per second.

“We are measuring the flows each morning,” Burnham said July 10. “The flows today were at 15 cubic feet per second. They have been right around 15 to 18 cubic feet per second for a couple of weeks. This is typical; the flows usually stabilize around the first of July and then slowly decrease until mid-August.”

Burnham said the city is not only tracking the streamflow, but also keeping an eye on the city’s demand for water. The city’s highest demand was a few years ago, he said, at 4.1 cubic feet per second. He said he doesn’t expect this year’s demand to reach that level.

“The city has made significant water system repairs and improvements in recent years and that helps minimize the demand,” he said.

While Burnham expects the streamflows in Flower Creek above the water treatment plant to continue to decrease, he doesn’t expect it to be significant enough to threaten the city’s water supply or force restrictions.

“Right now we’re watching those flows very closely,” he said. “They usually drop pretty steeply right about this time of year. We expect them to hit 13 or 14 cubic feet per second during the next three to four weeks.”

Hammons said in addition monitoring the flows and demand on the system, the city is also taking steps to increase the available water supply.

“The city is working with the engineers and contractor at the dam to put in a termporary gate to hold back water behind the 25 foot section of the old dam,” he said. “The gate will be placed in the bypass piping that transports the creek around the construction site. This would give us some additional storage should we need it.”

Burnham cautioned against unnecessary panic and stressed the importance of looking at the big picture instead of looking at smaller symptoms, such as trickling flows far downstream of the water treatment plant.

“One thing people look at is Flower Creek by Rosauers,” he said. “By the time it gets there it has gone underground, so they might only see a couple of cubic feet per second. Up above it’s much higher.”

Burnham said city officials might reconsider public water restrictions if the streamflows dip below 10 or 11 cubic feet per second. Hammons concurred, saying a precipitous drop could force a change of plan.

“At this time there are no water restrictions, but this could change if the condition worsens and the flows drop off to historic lows,” he said.