Water Woes Continue

Wednesday afternoon city and water officials held a press conference to announce mandatory water restrictions. Water officials say they noticed a significant drop in water tank levels last Friday...And Monday urged people in the cities of Prairie Grove, Lincoln, and Westville, Oklahoma to eliminate unnecessary watering. But it seems that no one listened. Officials with the 2-Ton Water Authority-- which supplies water to Lincoln, Prairie Grove, Westville and the Washington Water Authority-- say water levels were at 17 feet Tuesday night, 15-feet is considered a critical level. The problem isn`t a water shortage from Beaver Lake, but a bottleneck in the infrastructure of the system. The system cannot pump and store enough water to meet the extreme demands. Water officials say if people continue to use large amounts of water their water services could be shut off. Officials with the Washington County Water Authority went door-to-door Wednesday night to inform residents of the new restrictions. Water Authority officials want people to eliminate any outdoor watering such as car washing, watering the grass, or washing off the driveway or sidewalk. They also encourage people to wash only full loads of laundry, and take shorter showers.