Skip to content

Restrictions helping water situation, but levels low in Creston and Erickson system

Peak demand has passed, says Arrow Creek system manger Robin Douville, but interface fire would be tough to fight...
65046crestonwater_hose
High demand has led to watering restrictions for Erickson and Creston.

“We’re still not out of the woods,” said Robin Douville, manager of the Arrow Creek water treatment plant. “The rain the other night helped, but not enough.”

Douville and other water system operators in the Creston Valley have spent the summer anxiously watching water sources, hoping for rain that will help their levels to rise.

This week he reported that Arrow Creek, which supplies water to Creston and Erickson, might be at “a 100-year low — it’s certainly the lowest I’ve seen in my 30 years here.”

Fortunately, Douville said, public response to water restrictions has been impressive.

“I didn’t really expect such a good response when we went to Stage 3 (which eliminates the watering of lawns, among other restrictions) but driving around Erickson and Creston I am not seeing many green lawns,” he said.

The reduction in demand has allowed the Town of Creston to shut off its water wells, which supplement the water supply on the west side of town. Improvements at the Schikurski Park pump station will allow the town’s pumps to push water further east, but in the meantime they can only provide for a portion of the service area.

Peak demand, he said, has passed with the completion of the majority of the cherry harvest. But low creek levels are not allowing reservoir levels to recover, leaving the area vulnerable if a large fire breaks out.

“If we had to produce for the peak demand (including orchard and lawn watering) we couldn’t do it,” Douville said. “We could not return to Stage 2 at this point — we just don’t have the water. If we get a rainfall once every week or so, I think that will get us through.”

With only one day with rain forecast in the next two weeks, a significant change in the local supply doesn’t seem likely.

“If we had an interface fire we’d be in tough to fight it,” Douville said.