OR: Lafayette May Run Out of Water

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

Lafayette May Run Out of Water

By AP Staff

Officials are worried this town 22 miles northwest of Salem might run out of drinking water by next month unless conditions change.

At a meeting Thursday, city administrator Phil Lieberman said the city's main wells are so low they might not last the entire summer. Lieberman suggested tighter restrictions on water use, but the city council took no action.

Lieberman said the city's aquifer did not fill adequately because of an unusually dry winter. And despite restrictions on water use -- including a ban on watering lawns -- residents' water use has increased each month, he said.

"If this kind of increase in usage keeps up, you'll find out when you turn on your tap in August and it doesn't turn on," he said Thursday.

The city has ordered equipment that can filter poor-quality water so it can be used, but the order won't arrive until late August and would take two weeks to install, Lieberman said. The city could use the equipment on wells that have been shut down because of water-quality problems, he said.

"The crisis the city faces is very real," he said. "I've heard plenty of rumors about this being a fake water crisis that somebody made up. That's totally unfounded."

http://www.kgw.com/kgwnews/oregonwash_story.html?StoryID=23068

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), July 14, 2001


Moderation questions? read the FAQ