Richwood supplementing water intake via lake

Six weeks ago the city of Richwood began supplementing its water intake on the North Fork of the Cherry River with water from the reservoir at Summit Lake.

The lake was built in 1956 as a backup solution for Richwood and is a popular destination for fishermen and campers.

Steve Elliott, water distribution manager for the city of Richwood, said this is a normally dry time of year and the last time they needed to use the lake to this degree was in 2019. As of Wednesday they still had plenty of water in the lake, but he has been working tirelessly to find other solutions, should the lake levels drop below what is safe for wildlife.

Last week he completed a secondary water intake below the forks of South and North Forks of the Cherry River using a 600 GPM pump. He said they are taking it one day at a time to see if this intake will be needed.

"We're gonna pump it 2,000 feet to our water plant to supplement our intake or maybe it will be our primary intake if the water keeps dropping."

The city has issued water conservation restrictions asking residents to refrain from washing cars, watering gardens and limiting the use of dishwashers and laundry.

Elliott says they are taking the situation one day at a time and wants to stress a sense of conservation and common sense rather than panic.

"I can't tell you when we're going to run out of water because I can't tell you when it's going to rain," he said.

"We're just saying, 'Try to think of creative ways to save water.' And the people have been doing a real good job at it so far. We've noticed we've been having to pump less out of the plant so we commend everybody who is helping."