Water restrictions over in Puget Sound as drought lingers

October and November rains have temporarily slaked summer’s drought, and three Puget Sound water purveyors are calling an end to water advisories and restrictions.

Tacoma, Everett and Seattle announced Monday that water supplies are back to normal after soaking fall rains.

Since Oct. 1, 33 inches of rain have fallen in the Green River watershed — the primary source of Tacoma Public Utilities’ water.

Water managers in the region first asked customers to cut back on water use in July by calling for a water advisory. The lowest of four stages of the utility’s water shortage response plan, an advisory is essentially a heads-up to customers that a drought is affecting the area’s water supply.

The following month, the utilities asked customers to cut their use by 10 percent. The state experienced unusually dry weather this year, with Seattle going through its driest May-July period on record and the Green River watershed also setting records through August.

The region’s historic drought is not over. The U.S. Drought Monitor shows at least “abnormally dry” conditions in the Puget Sound area, with much of Eastern Washington in “extreme drought” conditions.

In September, the state Department of Ecology wrote that the drought is predicted to extend into 2016.

This story was originally published November 23, 2015 at 2:24 PM with the headline "Water restrictions over in Puget Sound as drought lingers."