Recent Rains Help But Don't Sink Drought In Pawnee County

The timeline has been extended for a Pawnee County lake that provides water to thousands of homes.

Lone Chimney Lake is drying up because of the drought but two inches of recent rain has given homeowners a little more time to prepare.

Lone Chimney Lake has taken a direct hit from the severe drought. It provides water to 16,000 people in four surrounding counties but the association that manages the water distribution says the lake is drying up on a scale they've rarely seen.

"We went through this five years ago and after that, we started trying to make plans to make sure this didn't happen again. But who would ever thought we'd be in a drought in another five years," said Ronny Mallory.

Since News On 6 first reported on the situation two weeks ago, the lake has received two inches of rain bringing up the water level by 18 inches.

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The Lone Chimney Water Association says that means they now have until at least the end of the summer before it's too dry to provide water.

The water association is looking at a couple of options to get more water in the future. For example, they have a verbal agreement to purchase 1.2 million gallons of water a day from the city of Stillwater.

The association is also in the process of securing a $3.5 million loan to lay a 12-inch line from Stillwater to connect to its own water lines.

In the meantime, it has asked its customers to conserve as much water as possible and they say, so far, it seems to be helping.

"We're producing about half the water that we normally produce. We normally produce close to 2-million and we're producing about half that right now," said Darrel Clark of the Lone Chimney Water Association.

"Patience and conservation. The less water they use the more they have for the neighbors, might be able to use down the line," Mallory said.

The association says, short of a flash flood, they don't expect the water in the lake to get back normal anytime soon.

"It's just tough. You want to have a magic fix but there isn't any, we just need rain," Mallory said.

Once everything is finalized to purchase water from the city of Stillwater, it will still be several months before the water is flowing and ready to use. The association expects that wouldn't happen until the beginning of next year.