Residents of the City of Weyburn will be subject to water conservation at the end of May, and by the sounds of it, this will be the reality for city residents for a long time to come.
The measures were necessary, of course, because the southeast region has been dry for a long time, coming through a winter with very little snow, and a fairly dry spring time.
It was ironic that the day after the May 9th council meeting where water conservation was introduced that the area received rainfall, which was very much needed and wanted by everyone, in particular the many area producers who have been making a lot of progress with spring seeding operations, some of whom are already done before the May long weekend, the traditional starting point for many gardeners in the area.
The Nickle Lake reservoir is down some 72 centimetres from full capacity, heading into a new growing season of spring and summer, and while the rainfall received was welcome, there hasn’t been any more since.
Thus, the prudent thing to do for Weyburn, and for many communities throughout the region, is to institute water conservation measures, because for any longtime resident of the Prairies, water is a valuable commodity, and for some producers, will mean the difference between having a crop and having nothing at all come harvest time.
With the city’s conservation measures, residents will be allowed to water their lawns three days of the week, and even in city parks the water usage by sprinklers will be reduced from 60 minutes down to 45 minutes.
As the City states in the information sent out to residents, conservation doesn’t mean no water can be used, just that some prudence and wisdom is needed. Reducing water loss from things like leakages and unattended sprinklers can cut down water use by quite a bit.
Other measures are recommended, such as raising the lawn mower up to three inches so the grass doesn’t have to be cut nearly as often, and the longer grass can hold the moisture better than a lawn with short grass.
Even something as simple as fixing dripping faucets can help a lot. If a faucet is dripping at the rate of one drop per second, you can waste as much as 10,000 litres in a year. Even in lawn watering, a sprinkler can pump out 2,200 litres in just a few hours. If we all take care of this precious resource, then it’ll last a lot longer. — Greg Nikkel
