The City of Marion has eased much of its water restrictions for the time being as plentiful rain has kept the town’s raw water sources full to the brim.
As anticipated and reported about in this week’s newspaper, Mayor D’Anna Browning has now issued a decree loosening a Conservation Order issued last spring soon after Lake George was purposely breached to avoid a levee failure. Drought conditions last summer exacerbated the city’s water crisis and Stage 3, the most extreme conservation level, was ordered. Stage 3 prohibits the washing of cars, porches, sidewalks, etc., or irrigating non-food producing plants with municipal water.
The mayor has dropped the Conservation Order to Level 1, which calls for the following:
•Increase public awareness and provide educational materials about best practices of water use.
•Encourage the entire community to conserve water wherever possible.
The mayor’s announcement said in part, “Since conditions have improved such that the raw water supply to the city has proven to be consistent and in such a quantity to provide for the current normal needs of the city’s customers” the Conservation Order is lowered from Level 3 to Level 1. The mayor also pointed out that any change in conditions will prompt further review, and could provoke retightening of the order.
The accompanying video shows what Old City Lake looks like today with water running over its spillway. Lake George, although still leaking to some degree, is also holding an abundance of water.
"My goal is to let Marion know that we do have a surplus of raw water at this time. We are moving in the right direction and we can resume normal daily activities," the mayor said. "But, let's keep conservation in mind and know that we may need to impose the stricter phases at a later date."
See this week’s full edition of The Crittenden Press for more details, and we will be following up on this matter in next week’s newspaper.
