The city of Yachats on Wednesday, Sept. 4, instituted an immediate restriction on water use because of low flow in two creeks that supply the city’s water system.
The “Phase 1” rules restricts the watering of lawns, gardens and landscaping to alternate days depending on odd-even house addresses, allows the sale of water only to current customers, prohibits fire drills, hose and hydrant testing and truck washing by the Yachats Rural Fire Protection District, and prohibits use of water in ornamental fountains unless there is a recirculation system.
The restriction went into effect because the flow of Reedy and Salmon creeks is below 275 gallons per minute and there is little to no prospect of rain in the next few weeks.
Yachats received only 0.21 inches of rain in August and is running about five inches below the 10-year average for the first nine months of the year. The average rainfall for September the past 10 years is 2.75 inches.
The city instituted a similar restriction in August 2018. The last time it issued even stricter limits was in 2015.
July and August are the driest months of the year in Yachats, according to city rainfall records, coinciding with the greatest demand on water from tourists.
Yachats’ water system has the capacity to produce 450,000 gallons of water a day. It has six storage tanks with a capacity of 1.7 million gallons.
During most June months, Yachats’ 850 residential and commercial customers use an average of 170,000 gallons of water a day, according to water treatment plant operator Rick McClung. That peaks at 250,000 gallons a day over the July 4th holiday but remains high through August.
