Bartlesville officials ask residents to conserve water

BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - Bartlesville city officials are asking residents to reduce their water usage due to the ongoing drought which threatens to last through the winter.

In fact, residents should expect to see information to that effect with the next utility bill, according to City of Bartlesville Water Director Mike Hall.

“We are sending out a voluntary conservation request,” he told 2NEWS, saying that if residents do not respond or conditions do not improve, the city “may move forward with plans to constrict consumption.”

Hall said though consumption has fallen from a height of 17 million gallons per day during the summer to the current daily average of five million gallons, the present conditions and projections for the coming months portend record low water levels.

“This year is shaping up to be like 2001 – 2002,” he said, recalling when the city council was ready to adopt mandatory water rationing measures.

They never took the action as the rains came down and the lakes came up just in time.

So far though, officials are preparing for the worst as the area's driest months of the year – December, January and February – approach.

“We are under an extreme drought,” Hall said. “It's time to let people know.”