Like Mountlake Terrace, Snohomish County PUD gets its water from the City of Everett, which is asking for customers (both retail and wholesale) to reduce their water use by 10 percent.

The PUD noted that there are several things residents can do to help save water:

• Gold is the new “Green”: Customers are asked to limit irrigation to their lawns and allow them to go dormant for the remainder of the summer.
• Limit Plant Watering: Customers are asked to limit watering plants to twice a week.
• Water early or late: Water before 8 a.m. (best) or after 7 p.m., which reduces evaporation.
• Water deeply, but infrequently: It’s better to have one or two deep waterings, rather than several shallow waterings.
• Fix leaks: Fix obvious indoor and outdoor leaks such as at faucets, hose bibs and sprinkler spray heads. Check for less obvious leaks such as silent toilet leaks. Put several drops of food coloring in your toilet tank; after 10 minutes, if you have color in the toilet bowl, you have a flapper leak.
• Wash vehicles wisely: Wash your vehicle(s) at locations that recycle their water.
• Use a broom, not a hose: Use a broom, rather than a hose, to clean sidewalks, driveways and patios.  Do only essential pressure washing.
• Wash full loads: Wait until your clothes washer and dishwasher are full before starting.
• Limit recreational uses: Turn off water features and minimize refilling of swimming pools and hot tubs

On July 27, the cities of Everett, Seattle and Tacoma moved to the first stage of their water shortage response plans. They chose to activate their response plans as a precautionary measure to ensure the region is ready for a potential water shortage based on the higher than average use, warmer temperatures and lower levels of precipitation. On August 10, the cities moved from the first stage of the regional drought response plans (Advisory) to the second stage (Voluntary) due to continued high demand and dropping reservoir levels.

For more tips see www.savingwater.org.