Osceola Town Hall to discuss water shortage - KCCI Des Moines

Osceola Town Hall to discuss water shortage

Around 5,500 Iowans may be left without reliable running water in just a few months.

Now, the city of Osceola is planning a town hall meeting to discuss the shortage.

"It's the most important thing. We can’t do anything without water. Obviously, we can't run any of our businesses. We can't live in our homes. So obviously, we won't exist without water," Sonya Hicks, who works at Mayberry’s Coffee shop on the Osceola town square, told KCCI.

Businesses and homeowners now must conserve water or face penalties on their water bills.

West Lake provides drinking water for the town. The water levels are so low that the spillway is dry.

"This is the lowest I've seen the lake in my 20 years. We are 75 inches down now," Osceola water superintendent Brandon Patterson said.

Patterson has asked the town to make some hard choices, including mandatory conservation. Now, he's set up a town hall this week to talk about the water shortage and what's next.

One idea is to change the West Lake underwater intakes to suck in more water. The other is to build a new $100 million reservoir, but that could take years.

"It's very frustrating. You know, we're in charge of providing the community with water and now we're having to ask for restrictions. And people are upset, obviously," Patterson said.

The town hall meeting is at 7 p.m., Thursday at the Clark County Fairgrounds event center in Osceola.