Rehoboth asking customers to conserve water, limit usage
In advance of warm summer weeks and the associated influx of visitors, Rehoboth Beach officials are asking the city’s water customers to voluntarily reduce usage.
To help flatten demand for water during peak times, the city is asking water customers to voluntarily irrigate on a specific schedule, said City Manager Taylour Tedder during a commissioner meeting June 20. Homes and businesses with even-numbered addresses should irrigate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; while homes and businesses with odd-numbered addresses should irrigate on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, he said.
The city provides water to 6,000 residential and commercial customers. The system includes Dewey Beach, North Shores and nearby neighborhoods out to Route 24.
This is the second summer in a row the city is asking customers to conserve water. Last summer, during July Fourth weekend, the city implemented a conservation notice after its two water towers and the one in Dewey lost about one-third of the combined water stored over the course of three days.
Dewey Beach officials have been asked to spread the word about conserving water, said Tedder. Additionally, a postcard will be sent to all customers throughout the water district, he said.
In an effort to improve system resilience, the city has been working on a connection with Tidewater Utilities near its Well 8 building off Warrington Road. The goal was to get the connection in place before the July Fourth weekend, but that doesn’t appear likely.
Following the meeting, Public Works Director Henry Matlosz said the city is still pressing to get the interconnect done as soon as possible, but due to lead time for some of the materials, it probably won’t happen before next weekend.
Overall, water usage is down for May and June compared to last year.
Matlosz said water usage for June, through June 25, is down about 17% compared to the same month last year, which may be due to the cool, rainy first half of the month. Usage for May 2025 was up about 2% over May 2024, he said.
Chris Flood has been working for the Cape Gazette since early 2014. He currently covers Rehoboth Beach and Henlopen Acres, but has also covered Dewey Beach and the state government. He covers environmental stories, business stories and random stories on subjects he finds interesting, and he also writes a column called Choppin’ Wood that runs every other week. He’s a graduate of the University of Maine and the Landing School of Boat Building & Design.
