Town of Wainwright lifts water restrictions, terminates state of local emergency

Three days after municipal officials said water levels in Wainwright, Alta., had reached a “critical” state and declared a state of local emergency, water restrictions in the town have been lifted.

Town officials made the announcement shortly after 8 a.m. on Monday. They added that the state of local emergency has now also been terminated.

“We do ask residents to be mindful of conserving water as we continue to replenish our reservoirs,” officials said.

“We want to thank our community for your co-operation during this water supply event. We appreciate all of the efforts made to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.”

The town first asked residents to begin conserving water on Thursday afternoon, saying the municipality was unable to fill its water reservoir because of a mechanical issue with a pump. A day later, town officials warned on social media that the water supply had reached a critical state and that if residents “do not reduce our water use, we are at risk of running out.”

The situation prompted the temporary closure of a number of local recreation facilities. The town’s residents were asked to limit their showers and reduce the number of times they flush toilets while also putting off laundry and dish loads. A mandatory ban on outdoor water use was also implemented.

On Friday night, the town said it had “re-established” the water supply but was keeping the state of local emergency in place because “water levels remain low.”

Mayor Bruce Pugh said Monday he was grateful for how Wainwright residents responded to the water level concerns.

“When the chips are down, good people rise,” he said. “And our community and the surrounding area is full of good people — and they rose again.

“We just take it for granted: I open the tap and water comes. When you have a critical situation like this, you come to realize there are a lot of hands involved in getting that safe, secure, reliable source of water to you.”

Wainwright is located about 200 kilometres southeast of Edmonton.