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Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet
Warren County placed on water shortage warning
FRANKFORT, Ky., Aug. 9, 2007 – The Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet, Division of Water, has issued a water shortage warning for Warren County, Kentucky.
The warning area includes the city of Bowling Green and the surrounding communities served by Bowling Green Municipal Utilities and the Warren County Water District.
Flow in the Barren River, Warren County’s water supply source, has remained low to severely low for the past five months and is currently at the lowest levels on record since the completion of Barren River Reservoir in 1963.
The water shortage warning is intended to alert citizens in Warren County that the availability of water from Barren River has reached a critically low level and may result in a shortage of potable water. Citizens in the warning area should take seriously the requests from their water suppliers to reduce water use and make every effort to participate fully in all water shortage response actions.
A water shortage watch issued June 14 remains in effect for 60 counties in central and south-central Kentucky as predictions of hot August temperatures and below-normal rainfall continue for at least the next two weeks. Residents throughout the state should be prepared for the issuance of local water shortage advisories to prevent abnormally high demands on water suppliers.
Drought conditions remain moderate to severe in Kentucky. The Palmer Drought Severity Index places the western and eastern climatic divisions in severe drought and the central and bluegrass climatic divisions in moderate drought. The most recent drought monitor indicates severe drought south of a line stretching from Crittenden County to Harlan County, and north of a line from Owen to Carter to Martin counties.
Most potable water supply sources in Kentucky are currently at acceptable levels. Stream flows are generally low but within normal ranges for August in most of the eastern half of Kentucky including the Big Sandy, Little Sandy, Licking, Kentucky, Upper Cumberland and Salt river basins. Areas of severely low flow include the middle and lower Green River basin, including the Barren, Rough and Nolin river basins.
Counties for which the water shortage watch remains in effect:
Western Climatic Division – Muhlenberg, Ohio, Simpson.
Central Climatic Division – Adair, Allen, Barren, Butler, Casey, Clinton, Cumberland, Edmonson, Green, Hart, Larue, Marion, Metcalfe, Monroe, Nelson, Russell, Taylor, Warren.
Bluegrass Climatic Division – Anderson, Bath, Bourbon, Boyle, Clark, Fayette, Franklin, Garrard, Harrison, Jessamine, Lincoln, Madison, Mercer, Montgomery, Nicholas, Owen, Scott, Shelby, Spencer, Washington, Woodford.
Eastern Climatic Division – Bell, Clay, Estill, Harlan, Jackson, Knox, Laurel, Lee, Leslie, Letcher, McCreary, Menifee, Owsley, Powell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Wayne, Whitley, Wolfe.
The Division of Water maintains current drought information on its Web site at http://www.water.ky.gov/wateruse/drought/
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