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Two weeks later: water restrictions still in place in Helena

City water usage
Posted at 5:48 PM, Jul 16, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-16 20:12:29-04

With continued hot and dry weather, the city of Helena put water restrictions in place about two weeks ago.

The idea was to help conserve water.

“Our June numbers fluctuated drastically and reaching levels that were really pushing the capacity of our water system,” said Jake Garcin, Helena City Public Information Officer.

Garcin says the amount of water use in June was staggering with peak use on June 30 at 16.2 million gallons, resulting in stage 3 water restrictions.

“The restrictions that we implemented a couple of weeks ago have resulted in a substantial amount of stability with our water use our production numbers have gone down and most importantly they stabilized,” said Garcin.

Helena residents are now limited to watering lawns on a specific schedule – of odd and even days based on their address…. And local parks are limiting use by 25-percent, putting the city in a good position, according to Garcin.

"Now at this point, we feel like we're in a place that we can sustain for the summer going forward as long as you know the community continues to use the conservation efforts that they've clearly adopted in the last couple of weeks. We feel like we're at much more sustainable levels going into the hottest part of the summer,” said Garcin.

Not only is the conservation of the Helena aquifer important for the city – it’s a vital resource for the surrounding area.

“It's also important so that we have the resources to fight fires as we go into the peak of a fire season that is always already really busy,” said Garcin.

Garcin says that Helena residents should remain resilient in restricting their water usage, in case a wildfire breaks out to ensure there is water available.

Helena is one of five cities across the state with water restrictions in place.