Mount Lemmon could face mandatory water restrictions again
TUCSON, Ariz. (13 News) — While southern Arizona has a First Alert Weather Day for rain on Thursday, those chances continue to dwindle.
That rain would be a welcome reprieve for the Mount Lemmon community, which has been facing water problems for years. They were able to go from mandatory restrictions to voluntary ones a few months ago, but that progress could be undone in the coming months.
Just a couple of months ago, residents and business owners on Mount Lemmon were staying hopeful that the voluntary restrictions they had would come to an end, thanks to snowfall.
But now they’re preparing for the very real possibility that they’ll have to move to mandatory restrictions again.
“The problem is that everything we drink up here comes from the sky,” said John Osborne, owner and manager of the Mount Lemmon Lodge.
He said water has always been an issue on the mountain, but it’s become more serious in recent years.
And the little rain and snow they saw over the winter and early spring are not helping their chances for this year.
“The water in the creek is much slower now. So, that means that the springs are running a lot less, so we’ll probably run out here pretty soon,” said Mt. Lemmon General Store owner Grey Carpenter.
That’s when the Stage III mandatory restrictions would come in.
Carpenter said residents could face having their water turned off if they use too much each month.
He said many restaurants and hotels are forced to turn to using paper and plastic dishes, and Osborne said that was the first thing they did, along with putting flyers in each of their guests’ rooms to encourage them to conserve water, from short showers, to sending laundry to Tucson, to not leaving the faucet running when brushing teeth and washing hands.
“To leave water running like that simply wastes, you know, during those periods where you don’t actively need it,” Osborne said.
He said they’re all trying to figure out how to get more water up the mountain and ways to pay for it.
“Proactively, we’re dealing with this problem,” Carpenter said. “And hopefully we can bridge the drought and find additional sources of water.”
Last summer, Pima County shut off access to public restrooms, forcing visitors to use porta-potties. Carpenter said they have found ways to make the bathrooms more water-efficient, so he’s staying hopeful that won’t happen this time around.
“You know, when we go into Stage III, and we’re heading towards Stage IV, it gets really difficult,” Carpenter said. “And so, we’ll see how that all shakes out.”
Despite the looming possibility of mandatory restrictions, Carpenter and Osborne still think it’s a great time to visit, but you should keep in mind how much water you use.
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