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Tucson Water users turned down their taps in June, marking the first decline in five years in the city utility's total water use for the year's hottest month.

Through June 29 of this year, the average daily water use for the month dropped 5.6 percent compared with June 2005, according to Tucson Water statistics.

Total water use in June 2006 was 3.9 billion gallons for the utility's 221,500 customers. Of those, 89 percent are homeowners and renters. A year ago, the utility had 216,500 total customers.

While rainfall this June was twice normal, Tucson Water officials say they believe the water use decrease was due more to the steady drumbeat of water conservation messages they've put out urging residents to "Beat the Peak" by reducing summertime usage.

Continuous discussions about the drought — locally, statewide and nationally — also probably played a role in driving down use, utility spokesman Mitch Basefsky said.

"People are paying more attention to water conservation this year, knowing that water supplies are threatened by the drought," Basefsky said.

He pointed out that water use rose sharply in the early part of this year, by 15 percent in January and 13.6 percent in February, compared with the same period in 2005, before people were looking closely at drought-related topics. For the entire first half of 2006, total water use rose 3.8 percent, to 19.1 million gallons, compared with 18.4 million in the same period of 2005.

Two veterans of the landscaping business agreed that people cut watering in June because of publicity and consciousness about conservation.

"All I can attribute it to is that people watered less because the city said don't water as much," said William Harlow, co-owner of Harlow Gardens at 5620 E. Pima St.

What is occurring is the result of education, "thanks to you guys and TV," said Jon Childers, retail manager for Mesquite Valley Growers, at 8005 E. Speedway. "Our customers didn't stop buying flowers, but they're buying tons of low-water plants and low-water trees."

A half-inch of rain fell at Tucson International Airport in June 2006, compared with normal June rainfall of 0.24 of an inch, according to the National Weather Service.

But the rainfall wasn't as big a factor in residents' decreased water use as public awareness of water issues, Basefsky said, because it rained only five days in June.

Tucson had 26 days in June in which the temperature peaked at least at 100 degrees, said Greg Mollere, a senior forecaster for the weather service. That's about two more 100-plus days than normal.

A side benefit of the June water use slowdown is that it's now extremely unlikely that the city will declare a water emergency that could force mandatory conservation measures, Basefsky said.

The exception: if a major problem strikes the water system, such as a main break, a reservoir going down or damage to water pipelines leading into the city from Avra Valley. That's where Tucson Water recharges its Colorado River water for future pumping and use by city customers.

"That kind of emergency could still occur, something that affects the system's ability to deliver, but in terms of a demand-driven emergency, we're pretty sure we are over that hump," Basefsky said.