Can you water your lawn in just two days a week? That’s what KID wants customers to do

Kennewick Irrigation District customers are being asked to follow a schedule that gives each residential user 30 minutes per zone twice a week to water lawns.

The number of zones depends on your lawn size and your irrigation system.

The last number in your home address will guide what days you should be watering and whether you water in the mornings or in the afternoons and evenings.

But irrigation officials are seriously hoping customers follow the voluntary guidelines to avoid the mandatory watering schedules that were required in 2015.

The voluntary water rationing comes as the water supply for KID drops to 67 percent of what it is entitled to use if water is available from the Yakima River Basin.

If weather patterns do not improve, conditions will worsen, KID officials said.

People are assigned mornings (A.M.), which can be anytime from midnight to noon, or assigned to water anytime between noon and midnight (P.M.).

The schedule is:

▪ Addresses ending in 1: Tuesday and Saturday A.M.

▪ Addresses ending in 2: Monday and Friday A.M.

▪ Addresses ending in 3: Monday and Thursday P.M.

▪ Addresses ending in 4: Sunday and Wednesday P.M.

▪ Addresses ending in 5: Sunday and Thursday A.M.

▪ Addresses ending in 6: Tuesday and Friday P.M.

▪ Addresses ending in 7: Sunday and Wednesday P.M.

▪ Addresses ending in 8: Tuesday and Friday P.M.

▪ Addresses ending in 9: Monday and Thursday P.M.

▪ Addresses ending in 0: Wednesday and Saturday A.M.

While the watering schedule is not mandatory, KID says conserving water now will provide more water to use later.

Drought resistant lawns

Following the schedule will cultivate a deeper root system and help make lawns more drought resistant, KID says.

Residents also may continue to water trees, shrubs, perennials and vegetable gardens with a single hose or high-efficiency device in addition to scheduled times for lawns.

KID recommends drip line, micro spray and soaker hoses to irrigate plants more efficiently.

The water supply for the Yakima River Basin is based on water flows, precipitation, snowpack and reservoir storage as of the first of the month, along with estimates of precipitation and river flows for the rest of the irrigation season.

Although the Tri-Cities had some record snowfall in the past winter, that was not the case in all of the Cascade Mountains.

Gov. Jay Inslee has declared a drought for the upper Yakima Basin in April and for the lower Yakima Basin in May.

The outlook for the water supply for KID and other junior water rights holders using Yakima River water was 75 percent in May. Senior water right holders are entitled to use 100 percent of their allotment.

KID is making arrangements with nonresidential water users for conservation measures. They include farms, school districts, and cities with many parks and golf courses.

The voluntary schedule is for houses on less than two acres.

Mandatory rationing was last implemented by the district in the 2015 drought, with watering times restricted to two times a week for 30 minutes for each zone.

This story was originally published July 9, 2019 at 11:26 AM.