With Lee County suffering from extreme drought, the second-highest drought level, the city of Auburn's Water Works Board is asking customers to comply with voluntary water restriction.
According to Laura Koon, Auburn's water resource management director, last week Auburn's drought levels increased from severe levels to extreme levels.
Because of the drought, water customers have begun consuming more water than in the past.
During May, the average million gallons of water used per day (MGD), was 7.61 in Auburn. This is the highest it has been all year.
May was the second-highest average MGD since 1998. The highest average was in 2007, during an exceptional drought.
"This concerns us," Koon said.
June 8 marked the second-highest peak day in water usage since 1998, with customers using 12.22 million gallons of water.
Most of the extra water that is being used does not go to essential needs, but goes to washing cars, watering plants and use for warm weather activities, Koon said.
The drought, issued in July 2010, is worsening and will most likely continue throughout summer.
Koon said Auburn's system is producing as much water as possible from the reservoir, but when there are demands for 12 million gallons of water per day, it makes things difficult.
The drought is an effect of the La Nina weather pattern, causing higher than normal temperatures and less than normal rainfall.
With this information in mind, the city of Auburn's Water Works Board issued a voluntary water restriction June 13. The Board hopes to educate customers and encourage them to be mindful of water usage, Koon said.
The Board does not want to initiate a mandatory restriction and hopes the voluntary restriction will reduce the amount of water used. The voluntary restriction will remain in place until further notice.
Since the voluntary restriction has been in place, the average MGD has decreased to 7.36 million, Water Works reported June 19.
Koon said Auburn University had a part in lowering this number.
"The University is our largest customer," Koon said.
In the 2007 drought the University created a water-management plan, which is now showing its face again, said David Dipofi, Auburn University manager of landscape services.
The University has complied with the city to help fix the problem at hand.
"We are concerned about the water too," Dipofi said.
A few years ago, the University began to be more conservative and efficient with its water. Since then, its consumption of water has decreased by 80 percent.
The agriculture department, athletic department and landscaping department all have a large role in water consumption at the University. Each department has each done its part to have a more efficient watering system.
These are not the only programs in the University that have an impact on this issue. Each student impacts the amount of water used by the University and ultimately the city.
"There is over 23,000 students at Auburn, and the population of the city is estimated to be between 45,000 and 50,000, so (students) make up over half of our customer base," Koon said.
Anything students can do to help is appreciated. A few tips Koon suggests are only washing full loads of laundry, not running excessive amounts of water while washing dishes and cutting down on time of showers.
"Every bit of conservation adds up," Koon said.
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