In what is the hottest, driest week of summer so far, a Facebook post by Francis city officials on Thursday, asked residents to stop all outdoor watering, saying the water tanks are “critically low due to high usage.”
According to the post, the city is working to obtain temporary pumping permission for a new well this week but in the meantime, the city needs residents to conserve water for culinary use and fire protection.
The message said that the city “will resort to enforcement, if necessary,” but is hoping for voluntary compliance.
In addition to the Facebook post and a notice on the city’s website, the city has also posted a digital sign at the entrance to town that says, “No Outside Watering.”
But resident Julie Hooker Dicker who is out of town didn’t know about the watering restrictions until informed about them by KPCW.
“For all of my neighbors that are traveling, how do we find out that there's water restrictions in place,” Hooker-Dicker said. “I think that there are a lot of people that can't follow the guidelines just because we don't know about it. Personally, the bulk of my yard is xeriscaped. But I do have a little bit of grass, and it will take a hit, as well as my trees.”
Hooker Dicker’s water bill is paid automatically each month so she didn’t open the bill that would have informed her that watering restrictions were in place until she went back and checked it.
“So, I legitimately had no idea until this morning,” she said.
As for the future, she’s concerned.
“I don't know what we're going to do,” she said. “If we have these kinds of water problems during our most plentiful snowpack year, what happens next year?”
KPCW was unable to reach Francis Mayor Jeremie Forman for comment, but he has responded to the Facebook post letting residents know that once operating, the new well and water tank will nearly double the city’s water capacity.
And in response to resident concerns that the city has gone overboard with development approvals, the mayor notes that it’s the new development that’s paying for the improvements to the water system.
The city council, he added, considered imposing a moratorium but couldn’t because the tank and well are already under construction. The temporary pumping can’t happen, he wrote, because they’re unable to get the parts needed to make the connections but hope to this week.
Finally, the mayor noted that city officials are exploring other options to notify residents so that everyone knows what’s happening.
