CITY OFFICIALS REMIND RESIDENTS TO LIMIT WATER USAGE

Water conservation won't end in Cape Girardeau until the city gets a good rainfall. City officials continue to ask residents to voluntarily conserve water.

Hot and dry conditions continue to be the norm, causing more water usage than normal.

"We haven't had any rain and the temperatures are staying up around the 90s," said Kevin Priester, Alliance Water Resources Manager. "We are encouraging people to keep doing the voluntary water conservation until we get rain."

The city hasn't received any rainfall since Aug. 13, when 0.02 inches fell. The last rainfall that amounted to more than one inch fell April 5.

Because of the dry conditions, residents were first asked in July to conserve water. City officials asked residents to monitor their water usage because the city was unable to produce enough water to meet all of the demand.

The problem now is not so much the heat as it is a lack of rainfall, which forces people to water their lawns more often and to wash their cars because of dust.

"Given the time of year, one good rainfall would probably do it," Priester said. "We have cooler temperatures at night and people are not using their pools as much. Right at Labor Day, people tend to use their pools less and with cooler weather that becomes less of a factor. And people also tend to start watering their lawns less and less."

The city also had two structure fires Wednesday night that depleted the reserves even more.

"We lost about 1.7 feet in elevated storage," said Doug Leslie, Cape Girardeau director of public works. "It seems we are never able to replenish the level each day. We do have reserves, but they are being used and diminished each day."

Leslie said the situation is not dire, but it does cause concern. Both of the city's water pumps are operating at full capacity and are unable to meet the demands. Leslie said the city needs the water reserves for emergency situations.

"On a day-to-day basis, we are losing ground," Priester said.

Priester said the city is continuing to ask residents to not use excessive amounts of water and to continue to only do full loads of laundry until Cape Girardeau gets some rain.

He said the city parks have reduced their usage and Southeast Missouri State University has also complied. Some places such as area golf courses have their own wells that supply water, which means they are not using city water and do not have to comply with the voluntary conservation.

The water problem is caused from outgrowing current treatment capabilities. In 1996, voters passed a one-quarter-cent sales tax to pay for an upgrade on the water system.

The $26.5 million project included building a 1.75 million gallon clear well, which is nearly complete. The well will be an addition to the city's 425,000 gallon current storage capacity.

Other projects funded through the tax include adding a filter and creating greater pumping capacity, as well as extending larger supply mains from the plant. That work should be finished within 18 months.

Officials said creating more water storage for the city should eliminate any problems, particularly during long periods without rainfall. In the meantime, residents are still asked to conserve.

"This will continue until we see some weather relief in terms of rainfall and cooler temperatures," Leslie said. "Hopefully this is the last summer we have to look at this."