Union-Bulletin

Facts and tips on water usage and conservation are presented weekly by the city of Walla Walla, in partnership with Walla Walla Community College and the Union-Bulletin.

Precipitation and moisture

Last August: 0.05 inches

This August so far: 0.00 inches

Soil moisture content: Normal

Chinook salmon return numbers

Fish numbers in the Walla Walla River counted at Nursery Street Bridge in Milton Freewater, as of Aug. 9, are: spring Chinook, 398; steelhead, 839.

Data collected by The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Reservation Department of Natural Resources; funding provided by Bonneville Power Administration.

Water usage

This week’s average water use by all city customers: 17.77 million gallons per day. Last week’s average water use: 17.11 million gallons per day.

Water use guidelines

For the week of Aug. 3-10, precipitation was 0.00 inches and turf grass in the area used 1.74 inches of moisture, according to WSU AgWeathernet data. Home irrigators should have run spray type sprinklers 5 times for 14 minutes each and rotor type sprinklers 5 times for 52 minutes this week. Calculations are based on average precipitation rates, please adjust for local conditions.

Water Conservation Statistics

Water is the source of life on this plant. If you look at the Earth’s surface and see that 70 percent of it is water, it may be hard to grasp that many parts of the world are suffering from a lack of this seemingly abundant resource.

Of all the water present on Earth, 97.5 percent of it is not fit to drink. Water available for human use is roughly 1 percent of the total water present. Because of the technological and financial resources needed to make water fit to drink, many economically challenged countries simply go without. Having water available in its clean and purest form is a blessing, and it should be treated with the utmost respect. It is our obligation to save and conserve water as much as we can. In this way we will be helping ourselves and all of humanity.

Some simple things you can do to conserve water.

• Take shorter showers.
• While brushing, only open the tap when you need water.
• Do not over-water plants.
• Don’t throw towels in the laundry after only one use.
• Wash your car less frequently and use smaller amounts of water.