FORKS — The wettest town in the Northwest is cutting back on water use for the first time in decades.
City leaders are asking residents of Forks, which has an average annual rainfall of 120 inches, to conserve water because of under-performing wells.
While the town’s four wells aren’t about to run dry, they are about two-thirds as full as they usually are, Public Works Director Dave Zellar said.
Zellar said that, a week ago, the city cut back the amount of water it extracts from the wells by about one-third to between 500,000 and 600,000 gallons per day.
“It’s something that we have never had to do,” he said.
And believe or not, at 42 inches of rain so far this year, Forks is well below normal.
Through August, the town on average gets soaked with about 70 inches of rain, with 120 inches the norm throughout the year.
Zellar said the city hasn’t requested that residents hold back on how much water they use since 1987.
At that time, the city did not have the ability to control how much water leaves the wells.
Zellar said the city will continue to ask its residents to conserve through next week, even though rain is in the forecast through Monday.
“We need about two weeks of good rain,” he said.
Forks definition of ‘good rain’
In Forks terms, “good rain” means about 1 inches to 2 inches of rain falling each day for those two weeks, Zellar explained.
Other cities across the North Olympic Peninsula also are dealing with the effects of a dry summer.
Port Angeles on average has 14 inches of rainfall through August, but only has had 10.21 inches.
Dry Sequim is even drier at 6.32 inches of rainfall so far this year. Its average for this time of year is 9.21 inches.
Port Townsend’s rainfall of 7.69 inches so far is even less than Sequim’s usual average.
The East Jefferson County town usually has had 11.73 inches of rain by now.
While rain is in short supply this summer on the Peninsula, only one area is facing mandatory water controls.
The Fairview Water System, operated by the Clallam County Public Utility District, has had an alternate day watering schedule for outdoor watering in place since Aug. 25.
PUD spokesman Jeff Beaman said the restriction will be in place for the water system’s 1,500 customers until water flow at Morse Creek, their water source, rises above 25 cubic feet per second.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.