The dam at Lake George in Marion, Kentucky had to be breached at the end of April.
UPDATE (7/01/22 @ 4:30 p.m.) — The City of Marion, Kentucky, continues to make adjustments to make ensure the people who live there have access to clean and safe water for drinking and cooking purposes.
The pick-up schedule for Friday, July 1, is staying the same: People who's last names start with the second half of the alphabet ('N' - 'Z') can pick up water today until 6 p.m.
You will still go to the Old National Guard Armory, at 131 Rochester Ave. in Marion. To get there, you'll turn onto East Bellville Street, then turn left onto Cherry Street. At the stop sign turn right onto Rochester Ave. The Armory is on the left. Once you arrive at 131 Rochester Ave pull into the large parking lot and follow the signage posted.
You will now be required to show your driver's license when picking up water.
If you need to make special arrangements due to health or transportation, please contact City Hall at 270-965-2266.
City officials tell Local 6 the National Guard is helping with other assignments now so they are in need of volunteers to help distribute water. You can call the city office for Marion at 270-965-2266 for more information on how to volunteer.
The city is also accepting bottled water donations.
UPDATE (6/30/22 @ 4:30 p.m.) — The city of Marion says water distribution for residential use will continue for the foreseeable future.
After making some changes, the city has set the new schedule:
- People who's last names start with the first half of the alphabet ('A' - 'M') can pick up water on Thursdays from 9 a.m. until Noon or 2 p.m. until 6 p.m.
- People who's last names start with the second half of the alphabet ('N' - 'Z') can pick up water on Fridays from 9 a.m. until Noon or 2 p.m. until 6 p.m.
- All water pick-up will be at the Old National Guard Armory, located at 131 Rochester Avenue.
City officials tell Local 6 the National Guard is helping with other assignments now so they are in need of volunteers to help distribute water. You can call the city office for Marion at 270-965-2266 for more information on how to volunteer.
The city is also accepting bottled water donations.
Local 6 will keep you updated with all that information as soon as it becomes available. You can download the breaking news app to get instant notifications on breaking news like this by clicking here for Apple devices or here for Android devices.
MARION, KY — With roughly 10 days of water left in its supply, efforts to get more water to the city of Marion, Kentucky, are slowly improving as neighboring water systems contribute to lessening the water shortage caused by a leak in the Lake George Dam.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet updated Local 6 with some good news, saying the interconnection efforts to get water from the Crittenden-Livingston Water District to the Marion plant could be increased. However, City leaders are still asking residents and business owners to continue reducing their water usage to help extend the water supply. Currently, Crittenden-Livingston is providing 15% of Marion's water usage.
The agency also notes the Extension Office and County Library are working on programs to help people in the city with options to reduce water usage. You can call the Extension Office at (270) 965-5236 or the library at (270) 965-3354.
The Marion City Council is meeting Thursday at 5 p.m. to consider restricting burning and fireworks as the water crisis continues. You can stay up to date on the water reserves through the City of Marion's Facebook page.
Keep in mind, any potential water leak should be reported to the City as soon as possible. KYTC says they have a team working with Kentucky Rural Water to actively search for and repair water leaks in the system.
Latest updates:
The city's focus now is to find other avenues of getting water.
They want to make sure people are also conserving water, too.
The city says water distribution for residential use will continue for the foreseeable future with some changes being finalized. Local 6 will keep you updated with all that information as soon as it becomes available. You can download the breaking news app to get instant notifications on breaking news like this by clicking here for Apple devices or here for Android devices.
The National Guard has resumed their bulk water convoy operation. The water access point has been moved from Cumberland to the Tradewater River off U.S. 60 at the Crittenden-Union County Line. KYTC says this effort is delivering 40,000 to 80,000 gallons of raw water to Old City Lake so it can be treated.
The City of Marion has also worked out the next steps with BFW engineers to complete topography mapping of the Lake George basin for potential plans to place the lower bowl back in useable operations in a safe manner. Additionally, the use of the Lucille Mine as a water source has been given the preliminary greenlight. The city says it plans to continue efforts in finding out the aquifer's recharge rate while also finalizing any methods to treat the water, if possible. The city says this will include a controlled flushing of mine water at some point.
On Tuesday, Marion leaders approved funding and authorized engineers to proceed with testing and design to establish a roughly 3-mile line that would offer a new interconnection between Caldwell Water District and Marion. Local authorities say this would deliver more water directly provided by increased production in Princeton. Officials say recent studies have shown the existing interconnection was not going to produce the benefit they previously thought.
With the levee break in Lake George, organizations throughout the region are partnering with the city of Marion to help bring water to the community. But what exactly does that look like?
Additionally, late last week, authorities authorized engineers operating with PADD, Sturgis, and Crittenden-Livingston to build a 1-mile line to interconnect the systems and offer another source to increase regional supply to Marion.
