Lincoln mayor gives Tuesday update on city water supply

In a press conference on Tuesday, Lincoln mayor Chris Beutler said the city has done a great job of conserving water over the past 24 hours or so.

But the mandatory water restrictions are still in place for now.

The city now has some numbers to show how well we’ve been doing since the water restrictions were put into place Sunday night.

Mayor Beutler called it tremendous progress.

Back on Sunday, Beutler placed mandatory water restrictions on the city of Lincoln.

A lot of businesses and community members had to come up with unique and creative ways to conserve water.

On Tuesday, the city received its first report card delivered by the mayor.

Beutler says the city aced its first test.

“Because of the tremendous effort made by the residents and businesses of the community, water production came very close to meeting our water consumption. We reduced our normal rate of consumption by about 3 million gallons yesterday,” said Beutler.

The mandatory water restrictions are still in place for the time being.

Beutler wants to stress that the water is still safe to drink and use.

Super Saver is one of many businesses doing what they can to save water.

“We’re reducing the number of times each week that we’re doing floor maintenance. We’re reducing the amount of produce stock on the floor so we can reduce the number of times the product needs to be misted to keep it fresh,” said Marty Jarvis, Director of Marketing for B&R Stores.

The future outlook for the city is a bit hazy right now.

The mayor says the issue revolves around getting the three stranded water wells, stuck on an island in the Platte River, up and running again.

“We are hopeful that these issues can be resolved soon, but there are no guarantees. Many of our well units are still inaccessible, making most evaluation repair impossible until the flood recedes further,” said Beutler.

The Lincoln mayor thanked the community for everyone’s hard work and sacrifice.

He wants to make sure everyone knows that outside water use, like garden hoses and sprinklers, is not allowed during this time.

There were reports of people using outside car washes, which is a violation of the water restriction.

“Now is not the time to wash your car, let’s instead patronize our business partners when restrictions are lifted, to show them appreciation for everyone’s sacrifice,” said Beutler.

The city says it will continue to evaluate the need for water restrictions.

They will lift them as soon as adequate repairs are made to those three horizontal wells.