Lamesa residents coping with critical water shortage Wednesday into Thursday

LAMESA, TX (KCBD) - The Lamesa water supply was at a critical stage Wednesday morning, with city officials warning residents to be prepared for the supply to run out.

The mayor said when he woke up Wednesday morning, he got the call that there was only eight feet of water left, when they normally have 30 feet.

The problem started last week when CRMWA, Canadian River Municipal Water Authority, had a four-foot water pipe blow out just south of Tahoka

The blow out put them into stage 4 water restrictions last Saturday.

Lamesa can live off of their own water supply for a few days, but when CRMWA called  Wednesday morning to say they had chlorination problems in the new line and needed 24 more hours, the water situation became critical.

"Unfortunately, yesterday's water usage put a little bit of an extra toll on us that we weren't expecting, and we woke up this morning to very critical water levels in the city," said Josh Stevens, Mayor of Lamesa.

The city spread the word and warned residents to be extra conservative with water.

"We've managed to maintain good water pressure throughout the day. We are building water, but it's very slow," Stevens said.

The city says everyone has responded very well, with school taking an extra day off and some restaurants shutting down to help.

They made sure nursing homes and retirement communities had water bottles and set up a standby location at the old Walmart filled with bottled water in case the water ran out.

"We're prepared. Citizens have been warned that there is that possibility and right now we're just in a waiting game, just trying to make sure we get it all done and get through the night with good water pressure," Stevens said.

Residents said they weren't worried but were preparing just in case.

With everyone staying conservative, the city was very positive about making it through the night, and expected this to only be an issue for 24 to 48 hours.

Mayor Stevens said they have made some progress as of late Wednesday night and hope to continue that progress overnight.

Businesses will be able to open normally on Thursday, but the city will monitor everything closely overnight.

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