Water Supply Issues Prevent City Of Bartlesville From Opening Pools

Water supply issues in Bartlesville will prevent the city from opening the city pools on time to start the summer season. The city's water supply currently sits at 56%, and the city wants to wait to open the pools until the water supply climbs back to 70%.

The city hopes that with a few more strong rain showers, the water supply can reach that 70% mark in just a few weeks.

"Just hope that the rains would kind of pull us out enough that we could open the pools, but we just felt with the way the water supply has been trending, it just makes sense for us to delay that opening until water supply improves," Terry Lauritsen, Bartlesville's director of water utilities said.

However, because there is a possibility that the water supply could drop down to 50%, which would force the city to restrict all outdoor water use, Lauritsen said that the city is worried that if the pools were opened to start the season, they could be shut down quickly.

"It does not make a lot of sense for us to open the pools for a couple weeks and then close them right back down because not only do we have to fill them and get chemicals to balance the pools, but we also, through the YMCA, hire the staffing to actually man the pools and operate the pools," Lauritsen said.

Lauritsen said that if the water levels get back to 70%, the city will work quickly to get the pools ready to open for the rest of the pool season.