KID plans no watering schedule now, but July?

For now, the Kennewick Irrigation District plans no watering restrictions.

The water supply for the Yakima Basin is little changed since last month, with a full supply expected for irrigators with senior rights and 86 percent for junior water rights.

The Kennewick Irrigation District does not plan to order a watering schedule at this time, it said Friday. But it asks water users to improve water efficiency.

More than 16,200 KID customers are within the city of Kennewick's boundaries, and more than 4,100 are within Richland.

The monthly forecast was released Friday by the Bureau of Reclamation.

“May’s precipitation was much better than April, but still below average,” Chuck Garner, Yakima Project river operations supervisor, said in a statement. “While snow pack is nearly gone, our reservoirs are essentially full.”

A new water forecast will be announced in early July and KID will reassess then. If needed, it will be prepared to set a water schedule to equitably distribute water, it said.

KID is the last Yakima Basin Project irrigator on the Yakima River and its water right allows KID to take a portion of the water that returns to the river by upstream water users above the reduced percentage of the water supply available. Historically, that has benefited KID customers when the water supply is low.

However, during last year’s drought it put customers on a watering schedule, telling them what days and for how many minutes they could water.

The water supply for the Yakima Basin was looking good this year until April, when warm, dry weather reduced the water supply. As a result, the Bureau of Reclamation reduced the water supply forecast for junior users to 85 percent of their total water allotment.

The Bureau of Reclamation bases it water forecast on river flows, precipitation, snow pack and reservoir storage as of the first of the month, along with estimates of future precipitation and river flows.

“Natural runoff, summer weather and irrigation demands are still important unknown factors that can influence stream flow levels and the carry-over storage at the end of the season,” Garner said.

It is possible that the water supply for junior users, including KID, could decline. Garner recommends water conservation for all users in the Yakima Basin.

KID is asking its customers to practice water efficiency, including retraining their lawns. Water for fewer day and watering for longer times can help plants survive drier conditions.

Low-water vegetation, replacing lawn grass with xeriscaping and using devices such as micro spray and drip line irrigation systems also conserve water.

Information about xeriscaping and low-water vegetation is posted at www.bentoncd.org.

This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 11:39 AM with the headline "KID plans no watering schedule now, but July?."