Cut the lights and conserve your water

An ice-cold glass of water, shower, slip and slide or even just dousing yourself in the refreshing blast of a watering hose probably sounds ideal to Kootenai County residents currently wilting from the 100-degree weather. 

But with the entire population of Kootenai County upping their use of this resource, city officials are encouraging conservation methods to preserve municipal system operations.

The intense dry spell currently impacting the area has caused an uptick in use that is seriously stretching Coeur d’Alene city services, Coeur d’Alene Water Department Director Terry Pickel said. 

“We are pumping at least double if not triple the amount of water into the city as we were the same time last year,” he said. “In this triple-digit heat, all the pumping has (our department) struggling to keep up.”

Pickel has been the department director for five years and with the city for 16. He said Coeur d’Alene has never experienced this level of hot and dry weather for so long. When looking at the average amount of water pumped into Coeur d’Alene from aquifer wells, Pickel said it is just under 13 million gallons per day. That number varies, however, usually hovering around 6 million gallons in the winter. 

“This summer, we’re hitting 41 million gallons, and our maximum is 44 million,” Pickel said. “So, we’re bumping up against it.” 

Pickel said the department encourages residents to double-check their irrigation systems for proper function and volunteer for alternate-day watering schedules. 

If the city reached the 44 million gallon cap, Pickel said there could be mandatory ordinances put in place, such as enforcing no-water periods or implementing increased rates. However, those would only be an emergency action that Coeur d’Alene hopes not to take, he said. 

“We all need to do our part to make sure all users have available water at decent pressure,” Pickel said.

Water conservation measures were disseminated by the city of Post Falls on Monday afternoon as a reminder for citizens over the coming week, Public Works Director John Beacham said. 

He said some are mandatory, including city code provisions that prohibit the use of “city water for outside watering and irrigation” between noon and 6 p.m. unless for repair or maintenance of an irrigation system. 

Others were suggestions that will help the city to keep “peak demand lower, which in turn keeps rates as low as possible,” according to a Monday news release. 

“We have the adequate pump capacity to keep up with the daily demand, so the demand increases we are seeing aren’t a problem,” Beacham said. “Demand is going to go up when the weather gets hotter, but we aren’t under any pressure right now.” 

While the city of Hayden does not have a municipal water system, administrator Brett Boyer said that the entity is encouraging the community to be considerate in their water and electricity use.

“During these times when we are hitting record temperatures in June, the heat stresses the water and power systems,” Boyer explained. “We are advising the community to use common sense and check on their neighbors and make sure they are OK because it is hot out there.” 

The city of Rathdrum has not issued any recommendations for residents for water conservation, but administrator Leon Duce said responsible usage is always a good habit. 

Water conservation recommendations include:

• Alternating-day outdoor watering by odd and even-numbered addresses, the latter on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

• Check the efficiency of home irrigation systems

• Conduct outdoor watering between 4 and 8 a.m. or 6 and 9 p.m.

ELECTRICITY

Hot temperatures and air conditioners on high are pushing regional electric companies to the limits this week. 

Avista Utilities and the Kootenai Electric Cooperative issued comments on unplanned, heat-related outages Tuesday morning after a series of properties lost power Monday. 

Those outages were the “result of the extreme temperatures and significantly increased usage,” an Avista statement said late Monday evening. In the release, the company said it planned on exercising more “proactive and targeted protective outages” Tuesday from 1 to 8 p.m. for about one hour in length.   

“The focused and protective outages are a protective measure intended to minimize the customer impact, alleviate strain on the electric system and prevent extensive damage to the system that could result in prolonged outages,” Avista Sr. Communications Manager Casey Fielder said. 

Approximately 1,250 KEC members were affected by heat-related power outages Monday, communications director Erika Neff said. She said the most prolonged outage was a little less than two hours, and others were under an hour. 

“We were able to restore power by adjusting equipment settings to accommodate the load,” a Tuesday KEC news release stated. “KEC will continue to proactively adjust our system as needed to minimize power outages.”

At this time, KEC is not planning for any rolling blackouts, the Tuesday release said, but if that were to change, the cooperative would contact members in advance. 

“We have a lot of confidence in our system. We are monitoring our system and putting all the measures in place to minimize outages,” Neff said Tuesday. 

Avista Utilities did not say how many customer outages occurred, but Fielder stated that “no customers in North Idaho were affected by the outages” on Monday. Any individual who could experience outages will receive a notification from Avista, she added. 

Information on how to prepare for an outage: myavista.com/outage and kec.com/outage-center. 

On Tuesday, the peak electricity use of Avista customers hit 2,386 megawatts, Fielder said. The highest peak in 2020, she noted, was 2,141 megawatts. 

“The difference between the two represents the equivalent of about 60,000 homes,” Fielder explained. 

Monday’s peak load was 2,285 megawatts, she said, but it would have been higher without the outages that occurred. By comparison, the previous Monday — with a high of 90 degrees — was only 1,951 megawatts. 

“While we plan for the summer weather, the electric system experienced a new peak demand, and the strain of the high temperatures impacted the system in a way that required us to proactively turn off power for some customers. This happened faster than anticipated,” Avista President and CEO Dennis Vermillion said in the release. 

KEC uses eight-year historical data to forecast system load increases and develop infrastructure work plans for future accommodation, Neff said. 

“The eight-year period helps establish a growth trend allowing KEC to forecast load uniquely for different regions of our territory,” she explained. “For example, some areas with high potential for new development are modeled with higher electric demand forecast than others that are already well developed.” 

Neff said the temperature recorded in the data were not as extreme as those experienced Monday and Tuesday. 

Both companies are asking customers to practice energy conservation throughout the rest of the workweek. 

These measures include:

• Conserve electricity from 1 to 8 p.m. every day and use air conditioners at night.

• Increase the setting on the thermostat. KEC recommended 78 degrees or higher.

• Reduce and postpone the use of heat-producing appliances like dishwashers, washers, dryers and ovens until after 10 p.m.

• Keep drapes, blinds, windows and doors closed throughout the day.

• Use outdoor barbecues or small electric appliances like microwaves for cooking instead of a stove or oven.

• Turn off lights, appliances, computers and other electrical equipment when not in use.

• Use a box fan or other fans when possible.

• Replace air conditioning filters frequently and make sure central air conditioning units are clear of debris​