Spokane is in a drought.
As temperatures soar into the hundreds this week, a new series of restrictions are limiting how and when Spokane residents are allowed to water their lawns.
The watering ordinance, passed last summer, has two tiers. Level 1, which is automatically in effect during summer months, restricts people from watering between 10 am and 6 pm and for any more than four days a week. There's no real enforcement mechanism, so it's an honor system.
Level 2 restrictions apply when the Spokane River is running at less than 1,000 cubic feet per second. Those more stringent rules, which went into effect July 24, limit watering to no more than two days a week. They also prohibit using water to wash sidewalks, driveways, decks and patios. This is the first year those rules have been triggered.
While the ordinance asks residents to do their part, it allows hoses and sprinklers in a number of city parks to continue spraying away — even during the off-limits hours of midday heat.
Fianna Dickson, a spokesperson for the parks department, says it's mainly the result of outdated equipment and a labor shortage.
Many of the city's parks are able to comply with the ordinance because they have automatic watering systems that can be easily flipped on or off with an iPad or cellphone, Dickson says. But in some parks — like Audubon, Coeur d'Alene, Comstock, Franklin and Manito — some or all of the sprinklers use an outdated manual system. That means an employee has to go to the park to physically flip a switch and connect hoses. And Dickson says the department doesn't have enough staff to do that at night when watering is permitted.
"Finding people to do that in the evening hours is near impossible," Dickson says. "We've tried and really struggled with that."
The city is working to replace the outdated manual systems, but it's a slow, expensive process that will take years to finish, Dickson says.
Not everyone is thrilled with the exemptions. In a reply to one angry commenter, the city of Spokane's official Facebook account acknowledged that it can be "confusing and frustrating" to see daytime watering in parks while being told not to do it on your own lawn. But Dickson stresses that Spokane's parks are public assets, and that the exemptions allow the parks to continue providing community greenspace during summer months.
The watering ordinance also has an exemption for the city's golf courses and other athletic facilities operated by the parks department.
"Those assets need to be available for active recreation for our community and therefore were granted an exemption to be able to maintain the recreation value," Dickson says.
Dickson says city parks account for less than 4 percent of the overall water consumption across Spokane. She says the department has managed to save about 70 million gallons of water over the past four years by replacing outdated technology, planting native plants that are less water hungry and using new mulching practices to reduce evaporation. ♦
