The meeting room was packed with concerned residents and business owners trying to find out how the city of 3,000 would deal with the prospect of a dwindling water supply.
The meeting opened with the word that Marion currently estimates they have an 8 to 10-day supply of water on hand. The amount of water available in the future from Old City Lake will depend greatly on how much rain falls to replenish the lake level.
The council refined wording in its emergency water order that was first issued a few weeks ago after Lake George was deliberately drained to avoid a catastrophic levee breach.
The order described three levels of water conservation, and the council said that the strictest, Level 3, would go into effect as of today.
The actions ordered by the city include:
- no filling or operating water features like swimming pools or yard fountains
- residential landscape irrigation limited to two days per week; city landscapes only every other week
- no additional water connections to the system will be allowed, and there's a moratorium on building permits
Stage 3 fines for not observing the water use limitations were set to range from $80 to $240.
Plans and logistics were discussed for possible assistance from neighboring utilities like the Crittenden-Livingston Water District, Princeton Water District, Webster County and Caldwell County.
It was reported that a connection with Webster County might be utilized by today. Caldwell County was reported to be working on installing a pumping station that could direct water to Marion. Officials said they estimate that connecting to Webster and Caldwell County water districts could help cover about 60 percent of the daily needs of Marion residents and businesses.
It was explained that currently there is only one physical connection between Princeton and Marion, which would limit the amount and rate of water Princeton could supply for now. On Wednesday, the council approved emergency funding to construct additional needed water lines to connect with the nearby water districts.
A YouTube video of the meeting is available from the Crittenden Press, linked below.
(Photo from Crittenden Press YouTube coverage, linked below)
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Marion city council emergency water meeting
