9.15.03 M.U.D. to lawns: Drink up; alert is lifted by Nancy Gaarder, Omaha World-Herald Recent rains allowed the Metropolitan Utilities District on Monday to lift the watering alert it has had in place for seven weeks. Since July 26, M.U.D. has asked people to water their lawns on an every-other-day schedule. Tom Wurtz, general manager at M.U.D., said Omaha area residents have responded well. He estimates that voluntary cutbacks have cut demand by 10 million to 15 million gallons a day. Some parts of the metro area received a half inch or more of rain last week. With autumn just a week away, M.U.D. estimates that demand for water will follow the normal pattern instead of the intense spikes seen in the heat of summer. Despite the drought, metro- area residents have kept their lawns in good shape, said Kathleen Cue, horticulturist for the Douglas-Sarpy County Extension Service. If the area doesn't continue to see rain, homeowners should give their trees and shrubs an inch of water a week in a single watering, she said. This week is the outer limit for planting fescue, she said, but there are still a couple of more weeks to plant Kentucky bluegrass and sod. Lifting the alert means that people are free to wash their cars, turn on their fountains and hose down their driveways. However, Wurtz asked that people continue to conserve. "Water is a precious resource," he said. This was the third straight year that M.U.D. instituted a water alert, and this alert lasted the longest. Because a growing number of people and businesses are watering lawns during summer, it is possible M.U.D. will issue similar requests for voluntary restrictions in the next several years. In 2008, M.U.D. plans to bring an additional water plant on line, significantly increasing the amount of water available to customers.

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