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8.15.01 Soaking rain ends voluntary water alert The Metropolitan Utilities District and its 170,000 customers, soaking in the elation of substantial overnight rain, went off the Level 1 water alert at midmorning Wednesday. Jesse Beaugard glances at Dr. Kurt Gold as he carries a skeleton across the street to the courthouse at 17th and Harney Streets. He was to appear as an expert witness in a trial. That means people can refill their swimming pools, wash their cars in the driveway, turn on their fountains and, in general, local homes and industry can return to normal water use. Parching in a rainless heat, the area had been on voluntary restrictions since Aug. 4. Between an inch and 1.5 inches of rain had fallen across the Omaha area by midmorning Wednesday, with the showers expected to end by early afternoon. Heavier rainfall amounts were reported in northeast Nebraska. Norfolk, for example, received more than 4 inches of steady, beneficial rains, said Bryon Miller, a forecaster with the National Weather Service office in Valley. Tuesday night's rain was the first substantial areawide rainfall since July 3. Officially, the city received 1.05 inches July 17, but that was a spotty rain that didn't benefit the entire region. Because Tuesday's overnight rain fell steadily over several hours, much of it soaked in and should help revive and sustain the area's stressed lawns - at least for a while. Grass generally needs about an inch of moisture a week this time of year, which is about the amount of rain that fell, said Mary Anna Anderson, an assistant horticulturist with the extension service in Douglas and Sarpy Counties. "I probably wouldn't water for at least a week," Anderson said. "Then I'd do the simple thing, and stick my finger in the ground and see if it's dry or not." Lawns and gardens - as well as the people who tend them - will benefit from pleasant temperatures in the next few days. Highs should range from the mid-70s to the mid-80s through early next week, Miller said. The overnight rain refilled two M.U.D. reservoirs that had been depleted during the hot, dry weather, said M.U.D. General Manager Jerry Radek. The reservoirs hold about 41 million gallons and had seen water levels drop since the dry weather hit in early July. The low reservoir levels had resulted in low water pressure in western Douglas County. In the midst of Wednesday's watery relief, however, there was a warning: The parching heat could happen again. "We have been six weeks without rain, and that's fairly significant. This doesn't happen very often. But it could," said John S. McCollister, chairman of the M.U.D. board. For that reason, he said Wednesday, he plans to ask the board to send a resolution requesting that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers accelerate its consideration of a new M.U.D. water plant at the Platte River in western Douglas County. He said he expects the board to take up the matter at its Sept. 5 meeting. In 1993 and 1994, M.U.D. began to work toward getting the new Platte River Plant. If approved this winter, the 100 million-gallon plant could be working in 2007. The two western reservoirs now are filled from the Florence Plant and the existing Platte River Plant in south Sarpy County. Both are far from the reservoirs, and water pressure in the area constantly has been low. The new plant would increase greatly the water supply in the west. In 1994, anticipating future crunches, M.U.D. adopted its alert-level system. M.U.D. has never gone to the mandatory Level 2, and this was only the second time since 1994 it has gone to Level 1. The 200 million-gallons-a-day mark seems to be the warning number for users of M.U.D. water. In 1995, water usage crossed that level, then got up to 216 million gallons daily July 12, when a Level 1 alert was announced for the first time. The alert ended July 17, as daily water usage dropped to less than 200 million gallons. This year, the 200 million level was reached Aug. 4 and the water in the western reservoirs began dropping. Furthermore, said M.U.D. officials, the two couldn't be refilled over night. That prompted the alert. Usage dropped to 146 million gallons Tuesday, M.U.D. said. Radek credited the voluntary program used by customers with keeping reservoirs at reasonable levels. "Our customers' voluntary conservation cut use by 15 million gallons a day," he said. |
Summer water use in metro area Construction Progress Photos Water Plant Wellfield: |
