The heat is (back) on; Bend urges watering wisely

Weather forecasts call for temperatures to reach or exceed 90 degrees this week in Central Oregon. In response, the city of Bend is encouraging all residents to use water wisely as temperatures increase in coming days and weeks and water use increases.

Residents are urged to focus their attention on outdoor water use this time of year.

“The majority of residential water use occurs outside the home,” said Bend Water Conservation Program Manager Mike Buettner. “This is largely due to water intensive landscapes and poorly adjusted or maintained irrigation systems.

“Now is the time to make sure your irrigation system is free of leaks, runoff and overspray and to ensure you’re following the City’s approved irrigation hours and even/odd watering days.

“We’re taking proactive steps to ramp up our water waste notification efforts and having success keeping water off the street, but there is still way too much waste happening out there. The customers we’ve been working with have been very responsive, which is encouraging.”

Residents are also encouraged to learn more about irrigation products that improve efficiency.

“Smart irrigation controllers have been around for a while now and are reasonably priced. We now also have low precipitation rate sprinkler nozzles, pressure regulating sprinklers, and drip irrigation systems. All of these help us use water wisely and keep it off the street,” said Buettner.

Steps to reduce water use during the growing season include:

Inspect for irrigation system leaks, runoff and overspray Follow to the City’s irrigation hours and even/odd days Ensure irrigation is only delivered when plants need it Convert landscape irrigation to drip where possible Convert high water turf landscape to a low water type Ask a professional landscape or irrigation contractor to increase your landscape water efficiency.

Visit www.waterwisetips.org for more information on how to save water in the landscape and at home.

Have questions about your irrigation system? Contact the City of Bend Utility Department by phone at 541-317-3000 or by email at conservation@bendoregon.gov.