Water restrictions went into effect Monday — but what does that mean for residents?
The Kansas Water Office issued stage 2 water warning to communities in Cottonwood and Neosho River Basins Water Assurance District No. 3.
All 105 counties in Kansas are experiencing the drought and Allen County and surrounding residents have been living on a water watch for the better part of the summer.
That is why city administrator, Carl Slaugh, isn’t worried about residents contributing to any excess water usage.
“Ninety percent of Iolans have already been following the restrictions,” Slaugh said.
Citizens are not the major water consumers, it is the big industries that are using the most, Slaugh said.
This water restrictions will be “very loosely enforced,” Slaugh said because city administrators are hoping this critical stage will pass quickly.
If the city did begin writing citations, the first violation would be a warning followed by fines. Slaugh is hoping it will not come to that.
The warning turned voluntary procedures into mandatory, Iola Water Plant Superintendent Toby Ross said.
The assurance, according to Ross, is more like insurance.
“If we weren’t on the assurance we wouldn’t be able to draw from the Neosho,” he said.
The restrictions are in place so that the water plant isn’t releasing more water than is coming in.
The current water restrictions for Iolans include:
• An odd/even lawn watering system. Residents with odd-numbered addresses will water on odd-numbered days of the month. Even addresses will water on even days.
• Outdoor water use, such as watering the lawn and washing cars, will be restricted to before 10 a.m. and after 9 p.m. It also will be restricted to hand-held hose or buckets only.
