Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback inspected the Neosho River Wednesday afternoon near the Iola water treatment plant as part of his drought tour.
The governor spoke with local officials about the conditions in southeast Kansas. Toby Ross, Iola water superintendent, updated Brownback on current conditions for the city.
“As long as we keep getting water pumped our way from John Redmond Reservoir we’ll be OK for now,” Ross said. “I can see water restrictions coming if we don’t get rain soon. It’ll be bad.”
Iola is part of a 55-county stretch of central and eastern Kansas under drought warning. According to both Ross and Tracy Streeter, director of Kansas Water Office, though there is cause for concern, a critical tipping point hasn’t been reached. This could change in short order.
“John Redmond is 12½ feet at its deepest right now,” Earl Lewis, assistant director of Kansas Water Office, said.
“If you go pull another foot out you’ll be pulling in your shore line,” observed Brownback.
Iola Mayor Bill Shirley talked to the governor about how things are being affected locally.
“Right now we are watching things very carefully when it comes to our industrial plants,” Shirley said. “They consume a lot of water and won’t be able to do anything for our local economy if they aren’t getting what they need.”
Though Shirley’s purview lay within the city limits, he also was adamant about the effects the drought is having on the entire county and farmers especially. The governor agreed things have been tough for farmers in the region.
Brownback asked about a water conservation plan for the area, making sure that local officials would be ready to respond to a possible escalation of stress on water systems throughout the area.
“We absolutely have a plan ready,” Ross said. “We pull it out periodically to make sure we can address what we need to do in this kind of situation. We aren’t there yet but we are prepared to go into a plan if we need to.”
Streeter also emphasized all levels of the system are operating the way they are supposed to.
“The executive orders you’ve put out automatically kick in levels of planning around the state,” Streeter told Brownback. “Everything is going the way it should so far. We just need some rain soon or we’ll have to start up some other levels of our plans.”
According to Ross, that means Iola would order a restriction on outside water usage with the possibility of shutting down car washes and other, what Ross and Streeter termed, were non-essential needs.
After the governor departed for the Chanute area, Shirley emphasized the water plan for Iola will handle any situation likely to occur.
“We’re doing fine right now,” Shirley said. “The governor knows it and we’ll continue to keep watching to make sure we stay on top of the situation.”
