April 2008

U.S. Water News Online

MINOT, N.D. -- City officials and residents are bracing for water supply problems if an existing dry spell continues into the summer.

Without rainfall this spring, people will begin watering earlier than usual, creating a greater demand on the aquifers the city relies on, said Jason Sorenson, superintendent at the Minot Water Treatment Plant.

The plant also has seen increased demand for water from companies that use it in the oil fields, though Sorenson said the level of water usage by oil companies is not yet a problem.

Public works director Alan Walter said water restrictions are a possibility if the drought conditions continue in the region.

"We monitor it all the time so we are going to be watching it and if we have to, we will be imposing the ordinance that we have for watering alternate days," he said.

Drought has reduced the Souris River that runs through Minot to not much more than a creek. Officials say Lake Darling, on the river northwest of Minot, might drop to a record low this summer.