City Leaders In Caney, Kansas Address Historic Water Shortage

City leaders in Caney, Kansas are addressing concerns about a water shortage that is impacting everyone in town.

The city held a town hall on Thursday to brainstorm ideas after the town implemented mandatory water conservation measures.

The city manager says this is the worst drought since 1952 and is on pace to be the worst drought in their history.

The city sent letters to people in town who are high water users and will be checking meters to monitor future use and are considering possibly fining people who use too much.

Dustin Burch has lived in town for 5 years and says he's frustrated because he says some of the city-owned pipes leak water.

"They are blatantly leaking water into the streets that is unmetered," he said. "We don't know how much water we are losing here."

Jamie Malone was also at Thursday's meeting and owns a laundromat in town.

He says they're encouraging customers to put larger loads in their machines, and they've shut down less efficient ones.

"My father was a very firm believer in helping to support communities," he said. "We are going to stay open as long as we can and be able to do our best to provide laundry services for the people of the area here."

Starting October 30th, the school district is canceling class every Monday for the rest of the semester since the district says they are the biggest user of water in town.

The city is meeting with Montgomery County Commissioners on Monday to talk about their emergency status even further.

More On The Water Shortage

Caney, Kansas is having a terrible water shortage, and city leaders say if they don’t get rain by the end of the year, they’ll have to declare a State of Emergency.

They’ve had a severe drought, and lots of people are worried.

Businesses have had to restrict their bathrooms to paying customers only, and now the school plans to go down to four days a week to conserve water.

Image Provided By: Caney Valley Schools

People who live in Caney, like Debbie Mitchell and Karen Brown, say it’s been tough trying to get by with only a little bit of water.

“I used to do laundry twice a week; now it’s once a week,” Mitchell said. “Dishes, about every other day. Showers, every other day.”

The town of Caney is on the highest level of water restrictions at Emergency Level Two. That means conserving water isn’t just recommended- it’s mandatory.

“I want to cherish every drop,” said Kelley Zellner, the City Manager of Caney. “We don’t want to waste a single drop of it. That’s the thing. Water is the source of life, and we need to cherish every drop of it.”

Zellner says the city’s worst drought was in 1952, and the city is about to break that record.

“You never think that you’re going to surpass the record of drought. But we’re hoping and praying and believing there’s going to be rain,” said Zellner. “If we don’t get rain by the end of the year, we are going to have to declare a state of emergency for the city of Caney.”

They hope to avoid that by putting up portable toilets and keeping kids home from school one day a week.

The people in Caney are holding on to the hope that rain will come, and they will be able to get back to normal.

“We just do what we can to help what we can," said Brown. "And pray that others are doing the same.”

There will be a special meeting on Thursday at 5:45 p.m. in town where people can discuss their concerns and learn about what the city is doing.