City and county leaders are reflecting on the recent boil water advisory in Emporia and taking several lessons as they look ahead to continue improving procedures for future events.
Assistant City Manager Lane Massey and Lyon County Emergency Manager Jarrod Fell joined Monday’s primetime Newsmaker segment to discuss both the city and county’s response to the advisory. Overall, both Massey and Fell were pleased with the response at both the city and county levels.
With that being said, Massey feels there were certain areas that could have been improved as it pertains to the city’s procedures following the issuance of the advisory. To that end, he says the city has already begun internal conversations focused on that exact topic.
Fell commended the city for their communication with both the county and local media partners to ensure local residents were notified as quickly as possible. Fell says while boil water advisories are not “exactly an emergency,” especially when compared to a boil water order, it does cause disruptions to businesses and everyday life.
Fell points to a several hours long shortage of bottled water at local stores following a large run by residents after the advisory was announced. Fell says while the disruptions are unfortunate, they are also very beneficial pieces of information to have when it comes to planning for future events.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment issued the boil water advisory early Wednesday afternoon after concerns about turbidity or cloudiness in the drinking water, after heavy rain Sunday and Monday led to higher levels of cloudiness than normal in the Neosho River, Emporia’s official source for drinking water, and a roughly three-hour equipment malfunction in a Water Treatment Plant intake near the river.
