A growing population, agriculture, industry, and the importance
of conserving water for fish have placed an increasing demand
on Washington state’s water resources.
To help meet these
growing needs, the Washington State Legislature passed the
Municipal Water Supply - Efficiency Requirements Act of 2003,
better known as the Municipal Water Law. The law gives
municipal water suppliers certain benefits and obligations. One
of the obligations is to comply with the water use efficiency
rule.
The water use efficiency rule affects all municipal water
suppliers, which includes community water systems with 15 or
more residential connections and some non-community water
systems that use water in a residential manner (RCW 90.03.015).
Chelan County PUD provides water to some 5,000 customers in
rural Wenatchee, Olalla Canyon, Dryden, Chelan Ridge and Chelan
Falls.
Key elements of the Water Use Efficiency Rule are:
- Water Use Efficiency Planning – As part of a water
system plan or small water system management program, municipal
water suppliers must collect data, forecast demand, evaluate
leakage, evaluate rate structures that encourage water use
efficiency, and evaluate or implement water use efficiency
measures.
- Distribution Leakage Standard – Municipal water
suppliers must meet a state distribution system leakage
standard in order to minimize water loss in the distribution
system.
- Water Use Efficiency Goal-Setting and Performance Reporting
– Municipal water suppliers must set water use efficiency
goals through a public process and report annually on their
performance to customers and the Department of Health, and also
make the information available to the public.
Detailed information on these requirements is available on the
Washington State Department of Health website.
Chelan County PUD adopted water use efficiency goals for its
Wenatchee area water system in 2007 and for the Olalla Canyon,
Dryden, Chelan Ridge and Chelan Falls water systems in 2008.
Progress on meeting those goals will be reported annually to
customers through published Consumer Confidence Reports.