Wolfe Lake has had low levels for almost a year, and Campton Mayor Katherine May has now asked residents to conserve water.
May said the reservoir, which is the city’s and Wolfe County’s primary water source, has seen insufficient rainfall in recent months. There are no hard restrictions in place at this time, rather a voluntary call for conservation.
“We had a pretty dry summer, and then of course we went into fall with little to no rain,” May said.
She started working with the state’s Division of Water in January, and the agency installed a sensor to monitor.
“They were very confident and hopeful, as were we, that we would get the spring rain,” May said. “We typically, by the beginning of April, we're back to full pool, but for whatever reason, we did not see that spring rainfall.”
Much of the state experienced drought conditions this summer.
The mayor said the continuing lack of rain since August has now put the lake at a critical level. While there was some flooding in Campton in late summer, very little of that water, only about an additional 4 feet, reached the lake due to drainage systems and the location.
“We felt that it was definitely time to ask everyone in the community to work together, and this be a community effort to conserve water usage in the home and in all businesses,” May said last week.
The lake serves about 2,500 water customers, and some of those are rental units, so between 2,300 and 2,400 residents are facing uncertainty given recent low levels.
Campton isn’t the only Eastern Kentucky area having trouble with low water levels and other system issues. Liberty declared a state of emergency in June due to a shortage. The greater Appalachian Kentucky region’s aged infrastructure has created more problems in recent years as local governments struggle to find funds to improve them.
Campton officials are working to get an 8-inch waterline set up from Cave Run Lake in Rowan County. May said the city has received AMLER, or Abandoned Mine Lands Economic Revitalization, funds and money from the Appalachian Regional Commission totaling $6.6 million for the project. However, not all of that has been released yet, so construction hasn’t started.
The mayor said she’s pleased with the response she’s gotten from Frankfort for infrastructure assistance, but she’s gotten mixed feedback from the community, with some concerns being raised about the effect of tourism.
“A lot of people do see that we are trying and that we're trying to work together, and that's why I put out the post that it's truly a community effort,” May said. “We all need to do our part in our homes and our businesses to just to conserve as much as we can.”
May has been sharing updates on the city of Campton Facebook page and is asking people to consider things like only running full dishwashers, taking showers instead of baths and checking for leaks.
“Just little things that we just need to be mindful of every single time that we turn the faucet on in our home,” May said.
