19 October 2023
VALLEY FALLS (KSNT) – City leaders in Valley Falls have initiated an emergency water plan in reaction to falling water levels at nearby Lake Perry due to drought conditions.
Valley Falls’ City Council voted unanimously in approval to begin the first stage of the city’s emergency water plan at the Oct. 18 city council meeting, according to a press release. The plan goes into effect Thursday, Oct. 19. The first stage of the plan is triggered by one of three happenings:
City storage has fallen below 85%
Demands for one day is in excess of 275,000 gallons per day
Perry Lake water level falls to an elevation of 890 feet
Over the past 30 days, the lake’s water level has fallen 1.71 feet in elevation, according to the City of Valley Falls. As of Oct. 19 at 3:30 p.m. the lake’s elevation was at 890.27 feet and is continuing to drop at an average rate of 0.69 feet a day.
The city is encouraging locals to conserve water at this time. While the conservation measures are not mandatory, locals should cut back on outdoor water use and be more efficient when using water indoors. Some tips the city is sharing include:
Wash full loads of laundry
Take showers instead of baths. Cut down on time in the shower
Don’t let faucets run while washing dishes, brushing teeth, etc.
Don’t let toilets run
Limit outdoor water activities such as washing cars, watering lawns, etc.
Valley Falls receives much of its water from the Delaware River which is fed by gravity into a pit that is pumped out into a settling pond that is later transported to the Water Treatment Plant. City crews have added sandbags across the rock weir in the river to hold water back and prevent the cavitation of the river pumps. Cavitation can damage the pumps and lines feeding into the water system.
The city said it would be monitoring water conditions at Lake Perry daily. The second stage of the emergency water plan will be triggered when the lake’s elevation reaches 889 feet.
If you have any questions on this, you can reach out to City Hall by calling 785-945-6612 or by emailing [email protected]. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app.