The Washington State Department of Ecology is issuing an unprecedented curtailment to water use in Kittitas County.

The action is being taken due to a third consecutive year of drought in the Yakima River Basin, which has caused historically low levels of water storage and stream flows, and has current reservoir levels expected to completely dry up by this weekend.

Ecology's restrictions will significantly limit the use of surface water from the Yakima River beginning Monday, Oct. 6, and running through the remainder of the month.

Surface water on the Yakima is utilized for a number of purposes, most notably for general domestic use in the cities of Cle Elum, Ellensburg, Kittitas, South Cle Elum, and Suncadia.

Although groundwater resources are the primary wellspring for domestic water

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