Wichita Public Works Director Alan King says demand could exceed the water supply in about two years. That's why he is recommending several options to the Wichita City Council to extend the city's water supply.
"We need to worry about this right away," said Wichita City Councilmember Pete Meitzner. "Probably alarming for everyone to know that in summer of 2015, just a few years away, Lake Cheney would be depleted."
Options include raising water rates for high-users in the summer, starting a voluntary water restriction policy, or restricting 100% of all outdoor waterings and fining those who break the restriction. Plus King also encouraged council members to start a $5 million enhancement project at the city's Equus beds well field in Halstead.
"I hope we can find a usable water source that is much more economical than the direction we have been going over the last couple of years," said Wichita City Councilmember Jeff Longwell.
"We've got a little bit of homework to do, but that's what we were expecting and thats what we wanted," King said. "We wanted to give some options to the council for their review and get some feed back from them."
Until council members vote on a change, they are asking all residents to voluntarily start conserving water right now.
