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7.27.03 Heat wave leads to water restrictions The heat was bad enough Saturday across the Midlands. But amid the triple-digit temperatures and heat indexes, the Metropolitan Utilities District called for voluntary watering restrictions in the Omaha area. The utility is asking that customers whose addresses end with odd numbers limit their watering to odd-numbered dates of the month. The even dates would be for users with even-numbered addresses. Along with that, M.U.D. wants customers to stop hosing down driveways, turn off decorative fountains that don't recycle water and refrain from filling swimming pools. It wasn't the first advisory of the day. With temperatures topping 100 and heat indexes near 110, the National Weather Service issued heat advisories for much of Nebraska and western Iowa. Beatrice sweltered at 106 Saturday. Lincoln and Eppley Airfield in Omaha registered 102. In the western part of the state, where records were set Thursday and Friday, a cold front moving in brought a little relief. In Alliance, where it was 106 Friday, it warmed to "only" 93 degrees Saturday. In Valentine, a more typical 93 followed Friday's 111. McCook did register 105. In Iowa, Atlantic, Clarinda, Red Oak and Shenandoah registered 99 degrees. Des Moines had a high of 98, and Council Bluffs was at 97. The heat didn't keep some from playing sports, having picnics and generally basking in the blazing sun. "Great day," said Bernie Drelicharz, 67, of the Fremont area as he prepared to compete in a couples tournament Saturday afternoon at Elmwood Park Golf Course. "When are you going to golf? In January?" Kathy White participated in her granddaughter's birthday -- a noon picnic at Elmwood Park. "Just stay in the shade and drink lots of liquids," White advised. "We have a long winter, so enjoy every bit of the summer while you can." Officials at Omaha-area hospitals reported handling about five heat exposure cases. Mari Matulka, a M.U.D. spokeswoman, said water usage jumped with the weekend heat, from 196 million gallons drawn Friday to 213 million gallons Saturday. With that, the utility has had a hard time filling its reservoirs, leading to the call for voluntary restrictions. It's the third year in a row that M.U.D. has called for the voluntary limits. Last year, the limits lasted from June 29 to Aug. 18. In 2001, they lasted for 12 days in August. The utility serves 175,000 customers in Omaha, Bellevue, Bennington, Elkhorn, Ralston, La Vista, Carter Lake, Waterloo and the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District, which supplies water to Fort Calhoun. The next step for the utility would be voluntary nonwatering days and then mandatory. But Matulka said that's never happened. "We have really water-conscious customers who have responded in the past," she said. "And we're anticipating this will happen again." Since April 1, Lincoln and its city water system have asked residents to water their lawns or wash cars only on assigned days. Under the plan, those with addresses ending in even numbers are asked to water their lawns and wash their cars on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Residents with addresses ending in odd numbers can water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. In Omaha, the heat comes with a dry spell. After a rainy spring, the area is 1.46 inches behind in July rainfall, said Dave Eastlack, a weather service meteorologist in Valley. Over the last 10 days, Eppley Airfield has measured two days of measurable rainfall totaling two-tenths of an inch. And Eastlack said that may be the norm for the rest of the summer. "We're getting out of these time periods where precipitation is more usual," he said. "When you look overall at a long-term deficit, we've got a long way to go." Over the short term, like today, relief and perhaps a little rain are on the way. Temperatures in Omaha, eastern Nebraska and western Iowa are forecast to be in the low to mid-80s. In western Nebraska, highs are forecast to be about 80 in the Panhandle to 90 in the extreme southwest. Click here for water conservation tips. |
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