Update: City of Atchison now implementing mandatory measures
On December 20, 2022, the City became of aware of an ice jam in the river moving this direction over the next few days. The Army Corps of Engineers control the water management upriver that determines our river levels and manages the removal or dislodging of ice jams. The ice jam making its way from Nebraska is causing the river to back up and we anticipate we will experience another one and-a-half-foot drop in river levels over the next 48 hours. This creates a unique and unprecedented situation with the convergence of several factors. The rivers have reached a low level making us unable to run our permanent intake pump at the river. We are relying solely on the auxiliary intake pump to pull water from the river until the river levels are restored after the ice jam passes. The culmination of the ice jam moving this direction over the next few days, extreme cold temperatures, extremely low river level, and the reliance on the auxiliary intake pump at the river creates a fragile situation. This combination of factors means that our ability to produce water at normal capacity is more vulnerable, or at risk, than normal.
Source: City Government | atchisonglobenow.com
