Notice: Trying to get property of non-object in /store1/home/old/public_html/temp.php on line 88
Notice: Trying to get property of non-object in /store1/home/old/public_html/temp.php on line 91
Montague, Cali. — For the first time in more than 80 years, the City of Montague’s water may run dry. A buoy sits in the middle of dried up dirt at Lake Shastina, the water source for the more than1500 residents.
Montague resident Shawn Golden said, “It’s a real concern because it’s the first step toward not having any water at all.”
Normally at this time of year there is 35,000 acre feet of water in the lake, right now there is a mere 8800.
Adding to the severe drought conditions, a recent settlement the between the Montague Water Conservation District, Klamath River Keepers and the Karuk Tribe, says that 2000 acre feet must be left in the lake through October. A critical decision said Richard Marshall, President of Siskiyou County Water Users, he said “people lives, livelihoods are impacted by these decisions.”
The city has already asked that all outside watering stop until further notice. Golden said “we no longer would be able to water our lawns, wash our cars.”
State, county, city and local water entities came together Monday to talk about possible ways to stop Montague from running out of water this summer. The water district says they have a long term solution, but they need to get funding, and it will take time, time Marshall says they don’t have. He said “we’ve been through droughts before we already should have a reserve system for water to anticipate these things and we haven’t, so we need to do that.”
Montague resident Shawn Marshall says either way, he isn’t depending on the city for his water. He said “we buy more bottled water now to try to conserve as much as we can. Water is life sustaining, we need water to live.”
The city council is holding a special meeting at the community hall this Thursday at 6 pm to answer any questions.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.