HAYDEN - The Hayden Lake Irrigation District has informed customers that water use will be changing to an "odd-even" schedule starting this spring.

The district made the announcement in the January newsletter sent to customers.

"Last year the district was unable to keep up with the demand for water during the peak sprinkler times from 3 a.m. to 9 a.m.," the district said.

Street addresses ending with an odd number will be able to water on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Those ending in an even number may water on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

A new lawn, sod, seed or hydro-seed may be watered daily until it's established.

Alan Miller, district administrator, said the demand experienced last summer wasn't a direct result of too many new customers.

"It's a factor, but not the cause," Miller said Monday.

The district has 2,500 connections, with approximately 85 percent of those being residential. Businesses make up the bulk of the remaining connections, with a tiny portion of agricultural users.

The service area is west of Government Way, and Wyoming Avenue to the north and Prairie Avenue to the south.

The district pumps its water from the Rathdrum-Prairie-Spokane Valley Aquifer.

In the winter it is drawing an average of 550,000 gallons per day.

In the summer, on peak days, demand can hit 7 million gallons. Most days in the summer it's 4-5 million.

"It's almost a factor of 10 for summertime use," Miller said.

The district didn't have the physical pumping capacity to meet demand on some peak summer mornings last year.

The district is also very close to reaching its water rights limitation, though it's seeking more.

The district has drilled another well to increase pumping capacity. That well should be online later this year. Miller said it costs approximately $750,000 to $1 million to add another well.

The new well means the district will have four.

Conserving water must also be part of the solution, Miller said. That means watering lawns every other day, instead of every day.

From 2009 to 2014, the district and its customers reduced water use by 40 percent, he said. That compares with water used from 2000 to 2004.

"The reductions were the result of the district investing in technology and learning how to use the technology to better manage and operate its water-supply system," Miller said.

The district implemented a conservation program in which it helped make customers aware of leaks on the customer side of the meter and high water use each month.

"Each of these investments yielded approximately a 20 percent reduction in water use," Miller said.