CALDWELL, Idaho — "We are working on getting the pumps working, but that takes us some time," said City of Caldwell Deputy Director for Water Ashley Newbry as the municipality prepares for irrigation season.
Newbry noted that the city faced issues last year with systems shutting off due to overheated pumps. In response, city officials are urging residents to use water responsibly.
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"If they can think about themselves as a community rather than an individual, that helps a lot," she said.
Last summer, Newbry said many districts experienced shut-offs because homeowners did not adhere to certain rules set by their homeowners’ associations (HOAs).
"When people irrigate at different times of day and different times of the week, that’s the most important thing. Those pumps aren't designed for everyone to irrigate at the same time," Newbry said.
During the hotter months, city workers can help turn the irrigation systems back on, which comes with an official notice.
"If the system is overwhelmed, it will shut down so it doesn't ruin the pumps," Newbry added.
However, the city still faces one significant problem: homeowners using city water to irrigate their lawns.
"That is a big problem for us since Caldwell is growing so fast. We are constantly working hard on our drinking water system, so when people use drinking water for irrigation, it puts a much greater burden on the drinking water system than we don't necessarily have the bandwidth for," Newbry said.
What about areas where irrigation isn't working?
As reported last year, several homes went without irrigation all season despite making payments. Unfortunately, Newbry said the city is still searching for solutions with those companies, but in the meantime, "Don't connect that hose to your house and use that to irrigate with your drinking water."
"The other thing is we want to preserve resources as far as the quantity of them so that we make sure that the good, drinkable water is available for people to drink, and the dirty water is available for people to water their lawns," Newbry said.
Caldwell’s irrigation season is currently underway, with water being turned on from April 15 through April 30.