Bartlesville Water Supply Still At Risk After Pump Station Replacement

The Caney River Pump Station has been offline for almost two years.

Water Utilities Director Terry Lauritsen said renovations for the pump were only supposed to last seven months.

"Supply chain issues really hit us so we were unable to get a real critical component of that pump station until just a couple weeks ago," Lauritsen said.

Lauritsen said it was the electronic components, which controls the flow of water that manufacturers could not deliver.

"We've seen this in other projects where it's just a much longer lead time to get those types of components than originally what you'd expect or what's been historically true," Lauritsen said.

The pump is now operating as expected, but Lauritsen said severe drought conditions remain a major problem.

The Caney River is fed by two bodies of water -- Hulah and Copan Lake -- which are impacted by the extreme drought in Southern Kansas.

"Hulah Lake currently is at 41 percent and then Copan Lake is at 55 percent. Likely, if the pump had been operational during that whole time, Hulah Lake would be in the 55 percent," Lauritsen said.

Lauritsen said the city is moving to Stage 3 of the drought contingency plan next week.

"It involves further restrictions on outdoor water or outdoor water use. That goes to one day a week. We are usually looking to drop the pressure within the system to kind of help conserve water as much as possible," Lauritsen said.

Historically, May and June are the wettest months and when Lauritsen is hopeful water levels will rise. If they don't, the city could face a water crisis.

"If we dont receive any rain and water consumption doesn't change much then, really by the end of the year, we could be in teens as far as water supply remaining," Lauritsen said.