(CHADRON)-With all the hot and dry weather the area has been experiencing, Chadron water department superintendent Tom Menke says the city’s water usage is up considerably over last year.

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Menke said statistics show that the city has already used over 302 million gallons during the year up through July, when last year the city used 359 million gallons for the whole year. During last year for the same time period through July, the city had used a little over 190 gallons. He says there are probably several reasons as to why water usage is so much higher this year.

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He says the increased water usage not only costs consumers more, but also makes the city’s equipment work harder.

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Menke says not to worry, though. Barring any crazy catastrophe, water restrictions aren’t looming ahead.

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July and August statistically tend to be the months of highest water usage. However, the city hasn’t seen water usage above 80 million gallons in one month since July 2003, when the city used over 90 million gallons. The lowest water usage in recent years in the month of July was nearly 42 million gallons in 2010. The lowest amount in any one month in recent years? That would be November 2008 with only 11.72 million gallons for the entire month.

 

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