LINCOLN COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — A dispute over a water shortage in Lincoln County is causing the leaders of two water departments to point fingers at each other.
On Monday, about 475 customers in McKinney lost water. Most haven’t gotten it back.
“It’s just more aggravation, more or less than anything,” said Jesse Abney, who is one of those currently without water.
The city gets its water from the nearby town of Stanford. Water Manager Ryan Owens told LEX 18 they cut McKinney’s water off for good reason.
“We identified a massive leak on one of Mckinney water district’s majors and called and informed their manager,” Owens said.
Because of the leak, Owens said, Stanford nearly ran out of water. So, he said, they called the state’s division of water who gave them a directive to turn McKinney’s water meter off until McKinney fixed their leak.
LEX 18 reached out to the State Division of Water to confirm if they had given a directive to Stanford. They had not responded as of the posting of this article.
In McKinney, Water District Field Manager Lonnie “Punkin” Brown shared a different take, saying there is no massive leak.
“Ryan Owens from Stanford Water is telling lies,” Brown said. “We did not have a 60-gallon leak per minute, it’s that everyone is doing a water drip and everything.”
Before the cold set in many people allowed their faucets to drip to prevent them from freezing. In many cases it didn't work, leading to an “unprecedented” number of burst pipes which have led to water shortages in different parts of the state.
Brown said this is all Stanford water’s fault, saying they can’t produce and pump the water quick enough at their plan.
“The problem is they have to stop every three hours to make water,” Brown said.
We asked Stanford Water Manager Ryan Owens for his response.
“The meter that was turned off at Mills Creek normally used 50 gallons per minute, and when we time it before we shut it off, it was using three and a half times its normal usage,” Owens said.
Communities have asked their residents to conserve water. In town caution tape blocks the entrance to the 3 car washes in town, which are all owned by the same person.
When asked if he’d heard about the car washes having to shut down, Owens said he did not know anything about it and had been focused on getting water on for people.
The owner of the car wash, Brad Vaughn, said he did receive a call from Owens.
“The city water manager called me this morning and asked me if I would voluntarily shut down,” Vaughn said. “I agreed to do it.”
He lost thousands in the process, he said.
Owens said they are now sending some water back to McKinney to help them figure out where the leak is.
“I’m gonna prove it tomorrow he’s lying,” Brown said, referring to how experts are being brought in to look at the issue.
About 60 customers in McKinney had their water back as of Wednesday evening. It’s not clear when everyone else will get their water back.
