Monday did set a record of a different sort in central Iowa — a record amount of water was used by Des Moines-area residents. Des Moines Waterworks assistant manager Randy Beavers says they set a one-day pumping record of 81-point-nine-nine million gallons of water in metro Des Moines.The old record, 80-point-seven-million gallons, came last summer when it was dry and there was lots of sprinkling and irrigation, something that’s happening again. Council Bluffs set a record for water use on Friday. Beavers says the capital city’s lucky, or well placed, right at the confluence of the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers. There aren’t any water-use restrictions right now, and even if there were a drought, they might not need any. While parts of the state are drier, particularly in the west, Beavers says Des Moines not only has river water, but also has worked on long-term plans for the city water supply. Beavers says Des Moines already has a second treatment plant at a reservoir at the Maffitt Reservoir.He says they’re looking into a third water-treatment plant, as well as storing treated drinking water underground at the Jordan Aquifer, a way to ensure adequate water supplies for the next half-century or more. Things are drier in the western part of the state, where Sioux City’s also looking at near-record water use, and in the east there’s been more rain.
