On Tuesday, August 8, 2023, during the City of Coffeyville’s regularly scheduled Commission Meeting, the Commission approved Resolution R-23-46 which placed the City of Coffeyville in a Stage 2 “Water Warning”. This “Water Warning” will take effect upon publication of the Resolution in the Coffeyville Journal on Saturday, August 12, 2023.
Due to drought conditions, on September 1, 2022, Coffeyville was placed in a Stage 1 “Water Watch”. According to City officials, due to a lack of sufficient precipitation within the Verdigris River Basin over the last 12 months, conditions have worsened.
On July 31, 2023, the City was notified by the Kansas Department of Agriculture that natural streamflow’s in the Verdigris River had fallen to zero. Due to the lack of natural flow in the river, the City needed to request discharge from Elk City Reservoir to meet their water use demands. Also, on July 31, 2023, the City received notification from the Kansas Water Office, that storage of water at Elk City Lake had dropped to a level where they determined the need to issue a “Water Watch” and requested that downstream suppliers and users take steps to lower their demands on this resource.
The City of Coffeyville currently has a “Water Purchase Contract” with the State of Kansas that guarantee’s a total amount of 300,000,000 gallons of water be stored and reserved for their use in Elk City Reservoir. As of this date, the City has used a total of 92,733,200 gallons out of the 300,000,000 gallons, leaving 207,266,800 gallons left for their use per the contract.
The City of Coffeyville supplies water to our businesses and residents as well as the Industrial Park, the Cities of Dearing and South Coffeyville, Montgomery County Consolidated Rural Water District 1, Montgomery County Consolidated Rural Water District 2, Montgomery County Rural Water District 14, Labette County Rural Water District 6 and Nowata County Rural Water District 7.
The goals of the “Water Warning” stage are to reduce peak demands by 20 percent and to reduce overall weekly consumption by 10 percent.
To accomplish this goal and conserve our resource during the ongoing drought, we request that our users do the following:
- Keep outdoor water use, including lawn watering and car washing, to before 10 a.m. and after 9 p.m.
- Golf courses restrict watering to tees and greens after sunset.
- Only refill swimming pools one day a week after sunset.
- Not waste water.
Management Actions would include:
- The City water supplies will be monitored daily.
- Main line water leaks will be repaired within 24 hours of detection or reporting.
- System pressure will be maintained at a maximum of between 70 and 75 pounds per square inch.
- The City will curtail its water usage, including operation of fountains that rely on the water supply, non-essential watering of City grounds and washing of vehicles.
Link to Media Release