Residents In Muskogee County Town Asked To Conserve Water

A town in Muskogee County said Monday, one of its four water wells has gone dry, and residents are being asked to conserve water.

Braggs Water Superintendent Wayne Richardson said, usually, the community's four wells pull plenty of water from the aquifer about 40 to 50 feet underground.

"One of our four wells is running real slow. We're running about a gallon a minute instead of 40 gallons a minute," said Richardson.

But this year, there's just not enough water underground to meet the current demand, so city leaders are asking people to conserve.

Town Clerk Rebecca Smith said the city has asked its 416 customers to stop any outdoor watering and to stop filling their swimming pools.

She said the city has received permission to open a shared water line between Camp Gruber and the city of Braggs, on an emergency basis.

"Oh Lord. It's a Godsend really," Richardson said. "Without it, everyone in Braggs would be without water."

But that's a short term fix.

A longer term solution is more rain—not just for this community, but many others who could soon face the same dry situation.

Richardson said the town's equipment is working properly and has all been replaced over the past three years.

The problem is, there is just not enough rain, not just here but in other parts of the country, even as far north as Colorado, which replaces water in the aquifer.

"If we don't get some rain even up that high, we're not going to catch it down here," Richardson said.

Braggs and Camp Gruber are located southeast of Muskogee.