Under the radar, City of Decatur water supply under drought stress

The City of Decatur is asking water customers to reduce their water use due to drought conditions in Lake Decatur.

Decatur and Central Illinois have received below-average rainfall since mid-August. This is causing water levels in Lake Decatur to be 1.3 feet below the normal winter level. According to the City of Decatur, the water level is declining at a rate of .29 inches per day and will continue to drop until our area sees significant precipitation. Unfortunately, that isn’t expected to happen anytime soon. According to the National Weather Service, below-average precipitation is expected for Central Illinois through at least Christmas day. The lake is still 69% full due to its increased depth from the recently completed Basins 1 through 4 dredging projects, so this is a precautionary measure by the City in case drought continues for an extended period of time.

Lake Decatur, the primary source of water for the City of Decatur and the Village of Mt. Zion. The city is requesting residential customers conserve when possible until further notice.



https://www.nowdecatur.com/2020/11/30/city-of-decatur-asks-customers-to-conserve-water/


Side note, Decatur spent nearly $100 million on dredging our lake reservoir completed a year ago that gave us back 40% more capacity as the drought of several years ago had our water system of being with in days of being unuseable. Decatur was on the verge of a national emergency with our IEMA and FEMA trying to figure out how to truck in and distribute water for 100,000 people that use Lake Decatur as water resource. Appears we are heading that direction again.