Memories of last summer’s drought might easily have been washed away with this winter’s heavy rains. That is not the case at Eastsound Water Users Association. Due primarily to increased water use during the summer drought, water use in 2015 was the highest in more than a decade. Water systems and water resources throughout the state were stressed by the drought.

EWUA would like to announce several new initiatives to reduce the impact of future droughts and to ensure Orcas Island’s finite water resources are used as efficiently as possible. It is installing a new water management technology throughout our system. These new “smart meters” use the existing cellular infrastructure to communicate daily with both the EWUA Office, and with each member. Members will have access to their water use records via either the “EyeOnWater” website or on their phone via the “EyeOnWater” app. These portals will provide daily updates of your water use, access to members’ historic water use, and the ability to program “leak alerts.”

The new system will also allow EWUA to read water meters directly from their desktops, without have to walk the system and physically open each meter box to record water use. EWUA will be the first water system in the state to provide all of their customers with this daily water monitoring capacity.

In Sept 2015 EWUA began installing a pilot of this new meter management system. They have 43 units installed, and chose the most cellular-challenged locations to install the first meters. Even with Orcas’ notoriously spotty cellular coverage, every meter has successfully communicated with the office everyday! Even more surprisingly in this first batch of meters, which have been in just a few months, the system has identified leaks in almost 40% of the services.

The second new initiative that is an outcome of last summer’s drought is the addition of two new “surplus water” tiers to their rate structure. The majority of EWUA’s members do not experience surplus water charges. The water included with their base rate is adequate for most users. Surplus water rates are charged only if a service exceeds their base allotment.

Study of water meter data showed that in Eastsound a small group of high water users were responsible for a surprising portion of overall water use. EWUA’s top 10 percent of commercial users were responsible for 50 percent of overall commercial water use. The top 7 percent of residential users were responsible for 28 percent of residential water use. The new surplus water use tiers will impact only EWUA’s highest water users. A chart is included with the meters so that EWUA members can predict how the new surplus water use tiers might impact them. The goal of these new water tiers is to “encourage” our highest users to examine their water use, and take advantage of conservation opportunities. The new smart meters mentioned previously should also be a great tool for monitoring your water use.

For more information, call the EWUA office at 376-2127.