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Wellsville Council seeks mandatory odd/even watering ordinance and advances Well #4 bid plans amid low snowpack concerns
Summary
Council members directed staff to draft an ordinance to mandate an odd/even watering schedule, discussed the Well #4 pipeline out-to-bid timeline, and reviewed the city’s roughly 3 million gallons of water storage and current pumping needs as officials prepare for a likely dry season.
Faced with a low snowpack forecast, the Wellsville City Council on Feb. 18 agreed to move toward a mandatory odd/even watering ordinance and reviewed near-term infrastructure work to bolster water supply.
Councilman Tom Maughan, citing three decades of experience with the water system, urged codifying the current voluntary every-other-day schedule. Maughan recalled drought years when Leatham Springs flow "dropped from 1,400 gallons per minute to 400," and said a formal ordinance would preserve supply during dry periods.
City Manager Scott E. Wells described the city’s storage and delivery system: overall storage capacity of about 3 million gallons across several tanks, including a 1-million-gallon primary tank, a 650,000-gallon Lindley Tank and additional reservoirs. Wells said the city currently must run wells two to three times a day to maintain supply and that during peak summer use the pumps may run up to six times daily as consumption can approach 3 million gallons a day. He also reported the Well #4 pipeline project (to the Lindley Tank) is expected to go out to bid within the next month.
Council members discussed longer-term options to move parks and the cemetery off culinary water and onto nonpotable sources, and agreed to prioritize water for trees and culinary uses while allowing nonessential turf to go dormant. The Council reached consensus to have staff draft the mandatory odd/even ordinance and to coordinate with private secondary-irrigation providers to align schedules where feasible.
What happens next: staff will prepare ordinance language for Council consideration and put the Well #4 project out to bid as planned.
Source: City Manager presentation and Council discussion at the Feb. 18 Wellsville City Council meeting.
