AUBURN – Five years of abnormally dry weather and a stage 3 water emergency has the Auburn Board of Public Works praising water conservation and looking for new sources of water.

Utility Manager Ray Luhring told the Auburn City Council the utility has drilled 174 test holes looking for groundwater, but has nothing promising to report.

While 1.5 million gallons remains in the underground reservoir, the water level last fall was five feet below what is needed to end the conservation orders linked to a stage 3 water emergency. A level four emergency would include water rationing.

Luhring: "Right now, the way we sit, there’s no outdoor watering of plants, gardens, yards.”

The current dry spell, which is being described as the second worst five-year period on record, comes after Auburn began providing water to the City of Peru. Peru's own water system was crippled by Missouri River flooding in 2019.

He credited customers in Auburn and Peru for conservation. The day after the water board announced the water emergency, water use dropped from 525,000 gallons a day to 310,000.

Peru Mayor Katy Novak told the board of public works that Peru is no stranger to water woes.

Novak: “This almost feels like second nature to us. … I’ve asked the staff at the city, we don’t get a lot of calls from residents angry or questioning this. We all understand that we have to do our part.”

Novak: “Almost since we’ve joined, we’ve been in a drought. Like you guys said, that is not what we were told when we joined Auburn water, so there is frustration on that part in Peru, but really not frustration about what we are being asked to do --  beyond we would also like to be able to grow our produce, turn our splash pads on.”

Peru State College also reports it is complying on the order prohibiting outdoor watering.

 

 

The utility is moving to establish a mobile water treatment facility along Long’s Creek, which is flowing at 430 gallons per minute. Luhring said that flow is twice as much as any one of the city’s wells. Well 13 is the city’s best producer at 150 gallons per minute.

In the long-term, Luhring said the board is interested in 38 acres near the Village of Nemaha that city purchased when an ethanol plant was proposed at Auburn. He said iron and manganese in the water would have to be removed near the well site or it would eventually clog the pipeline to Auburn.

A pipeline would also be needed for Auburn to connect to Nebraska City water utilities, but a new treatment plant would not be needed. He said if Nebraska City built a collector well, it could provide non-potable water to Auburn’s existing water treatment plant.

Luhring said a couple of significant rainfalls per year is typically enough to recharge the water table.