Bear Creek Water Association is asking all of its customers to be conscious of their water use over the next thirty days while it is operating with its main water well at a reduced capacity.
General Manager Nolan Williamson said they are not asking for people to not use the water they need or not to water their yards, but rather be aware of times they can limit their water use. Some examples he gave of when not to water your yard would be if there was three inches of rain the day prior or on a dry day when there is an 80 percent chance of rain the following day.
“We are not telling you can’t water your yard,” Williamson said. “Use the water you need to use. I’m just asking you to use a little common sense. Pay attention to weather patterns. Don’t water a day or two after it rains.”
It is also important to make sure that just the grass is getting watered – not the sidewalk or driveway.
“That becomes a waste,” Williamson said. “It is about being cognizant and making sure you are watering only what needs watering when it needs watering.”
Currently, repairs are needed to the main water well within the Bear Creek Water Association. It is currently being run unrepaired at a much reduced capacity.
“We are going to take it down for full repairs when our new well comes online,” Williamson said. “We are running it at a much reduced capacity and a reduced number of hours.”
Bear Creek Water Association has two new wells under construction. It was originally hoped that the first would be complete in January or February and the second would be ready around this time. However, due to supply chain issues, construction is taking longer than anticipated.
“It is not a Bear Creek problem,” Williamson said. “It is not a money problem. It is not a contractor problem. It is a supply chain problem.”
Both wells are running about six months behind. Williamson said he is hoping the first one will be complete within the next 30 days and the second one will be done by Christmas.
Bear Creek Water Association currently has nine wells in use, and these additions will bring the number to 11. While water conservation is always important, it is especially so during the next thirty days while awaiting the first of the new wells to be completed.
The two new wells combined will produce three and a half million gallons a day, which is a lot for the water association, Williamson said. They will be the largest water wells within their system once up and running. In a normal month, it will nearly double the capacity of the water association. However, water is used more during the summer months.
“We are an affluent area, and we have a lot of people watering their yards so in the summer our usage spikes up tremendously,” Williamson said. “Here we are in the summer, and our usage is up 2.5 times what a normal month would be.”
In January or February, the demand is about 100 million gallons a month, which is three to three and a half million gallons a day.
“You get a dry summer month, it could be 250 to 270 million gallons in a month,” Williamson said. “Now, you are talking eight or nine million gallons a day.”
Bear Creek Water Association covers the majority of the City of Gluckstadt and approximately half of the City of Madison. They also serve most of the unincorporated in South Madison County areas.
“We have more customers than anybody in Central Mississippi, except for Jackson,” Williamson said. “We always ought to think about conservation throughout our lifetime and anytime, but in this particular instance, over the next 30 days is what I am most concerned about because that is when I’m at my tightest trying to get this new well online.”
Williamson said customers can feel free to water their yard, but is asking them to just not overwater.
“Don’t be wasteful,” Williamson said. “That is an issue over the next 30 days but really that is an issue of the human race and a first world country. We all need to think about how we use our resources.”
