Some Rural Water Districts Struggling To Keep Up With Demand

We're in the middle of the hottest stretch of weather in Oklahoma in more than a decade and some water districts are struggling to keep up with demand.

Water demand is high, some treatment plants can't keep up, while others have room to spare. The city of Tulsa has been extra thirsty, pumping more water in a single day than it's seen in years.

To put that in perspective a usual peak is around 150 to 160 million gallons but Water and Sewage Department Operations Manager Eric Lee says it's nothing to worry about.

 "We pump about 100 million gallons a day on average. The highest we've had so far this summer is 170 million gallons which is on Saturday," he said. "Our max is 210 million gallons so we haven't come close to our max, we're in good shape right now."

Tulsa draws water from Spavinaw, Eucha, and Oologah lakes but the city of Muskogee draws only from Fort Gibson. All four lake levels are good but Muskogee's demand is pushing the limit. Treatment plant superintendent Keith Lumpkins says they're pumping 20.5 million gallons a day is just half a million shy of their max.

"If the lake level would drop then that number drops as well," he said.

Luckily for Muskogee and Tulsa, their feed lake levels are holding and both cities are pumping and storing enough water to keep up with demand but it's always a good idea to try and conserve water.

"We don't know how long this dry weather is going to last, so we're just going to take it week by week," he said.

Tulsa has not asked for any voluntary water conservation but the city of Muskogee, as well as Rural Water Districts 3 and 4, have - with several others getting close.