It’s not enough rain; Jasper continues water restrictions

The City of Jasper’s water conservation efforts and fire ban will continue until further notice.

In another emergency meeting held on Thursday, four members of the Common Council heard from Jasper Fire Department Captain Phil Schmidt. He told them that despite the rain the area has received the ground and foliage is still very dry and the fire ban should remain in effect until conditions change.

The council voted to continue the Emergency Disaster that was declared on June 30 to ban fireworks and prevent fires during the holiday celebration. Mayor Terry Seitz asked the council to extend it indefinitely and give him the power to rescind it subject to recommendations by the Jasper Volunteer Fire Department.

Water and Gas Manager Mike Oeding also addressed the council and mayor in regards to the continued water restrictions.

The city requested the Patoka Lake Dam slow their release of water to 25 cubic feet per second (cfs); down from 30 cfs. The Army Corp of Engineers has slowed the water to the requested amount and Oeding  is keeping watch over the Dubois dam. When the water stops flowing over that dam he plans on asking DNR to increase the flow. Since the Army Corp of Engineers restricted the flow on Monday, the water has dropped and is now only running over sections of the Dubois dam.

“I have been here 30 years and I have never seen it like this,” Oeding told the council. “They (Army Corp of Engineers) usually has the flow at 20 cfs during the summer, but we have never ran out of water like this.”

At 20 cfs the dam is releasing around 13 million gallons of water a day and Oeding said they are concerned on where that water is going. “You don’t lose that much to evaporation,” He explained.

The city is requesting the state conduct an investigation into who or what is pulling water from the river with out proper authorization. He told the council that people find ways around the rules controlling the use of the water. He told the council landowners will dig ditches and then pull the water from their. “They’re pulling it from the ditch not directly from the river,” Oeding explained.

According to Oeding, 20 cfs has been enough to keep the city reservoir full in the past but now that water flow isn’t enough to make it over the dam in Dubois. He plans on checking the dam at Dubois each day and once the flow stops, alerting Indiana Department of Natural Resources to open up the dam again. Oeding told the council he plans on monitoring it over the weekend and on Monday they will make a decision on whether any actions are necessary in regards to increasing the flow.

Oeding recommended the city continue the water conservation efforts it has in place. Currently residences and businesses are restricted on their watering efforts by their addresses. Odd number addresses can water on odd days of the month, while even addresses can water on even days of the month.

The city departments are watering twice a week and if they do it more often, it is on the same schedule as the rest of the city.

The park has been operating the fountain at Central Green from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., but citizens wanting to allow their kids to enjoy the park in the evening were upset at the early closure. JP Stemply from the Jasper Parks Department asked the mayor to reconsider the hours the fountain could be running.

The fountain has been allowed to continue to run since it recirculates its water and only uses 20 to 100 gallons a day depending on the use and weather conditions.

The mayor allowed the Parks Department to run the fountain at Central Greens from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The city is still using around 3 million gallons of water a day which is about how much the city averages in late July and August.