(Avoca, Iowa) – Officials with the Avoca-based Regional Water Rural Water Association (RWRWA), Friday, announced that “Due to the efforts of [the utilities’] customers and member communities, Regional Water…has downgraded the “Level Red” advisory to “Level Yellow”, the next lower conservation level of its Emergency Water Conservation Plan.”

General Manager Tom Kallman stated that the measure was taken due to improved water levels in both their wellfield and the storage towers throughout its Avoca Treatment Plant Distribution System. Kallman said, “We want to thank all of our association members across our district who have done such a great job in conserving water throughout these last several weeks. We aren’t out of the woods yet, but we are moving in the right direction. We just don’t want to go back into Red or a Boil Advisory.”

The “Level Red” alert began on June 14th after a system-wide pressure loss due to excessive use. The area affected includes members and customers of the Association in Shelby, Audubon, Cass, Harrison, and Northern Pottawattamie Counties. Included are the communities of Avoca, Portsmouth, Westphalia, Kirkman, Tennant, Panama, Earling, Persia, Exira, and Brayton.

*******

Municipal, residential, agricultural, commercial, and industrial users are asked to CONTINUE to observe the following conservation measures:

1. No watering or irrigation of established lawns.

2. Wash your car only at commercial establishments that provide that service as their only means of income. In these cases, hours of use should be restricted to 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM.

3. No water shall be used to fill private swimming pools, children’s wading pools, or similar articles.

4. No water shall be used to clean streets, driveways, sidewalks, etc.

5. Large volume water users, including industries, motels, hotels, eating establishments, and livestock confinements are requested to scale back services and/or production where feasible.

6. During the School Year, Schools will be authorized to use water for human consumption, food preparation, and personal hygiene/wastewater operations, to include showers for student athletes. They are requested to take whatever actions possible to reduce water consumption.

For more information, please contact the Regional Water Office at 712-343-2413.