LONACONING -- Despite rain this week, a water shortage looms for about 5,500 residents in the coal-mining region of western Allegany County, county officials said yesterday.
Wally Finster, director of environmental health at the county Health Department, said a months-long drought has lowered reservoir and ground water levels in the Georges Creek Valley, prompting bans on outdoor water use and laundry in some communities.
Lonaconing is by far the most populous area threatened. Many )) of the 500 or so people in most danger of losing water live in remote areas of the mountainous region.
"The rain Monday has helped some, but we're going to need a considerable amount of rainfall before reservoir levels return to normal," Mr. Finster said.
The outlook isn't good. Long-range forecasts don't call for any significant rainfall. Only half an inch of rain fell in October.
The problem has been compounded in western Allegany County because water systems serving small communities are old and relatively small compared with the much larger systems that serve Cumberland, Frostburg and Westernport, said Paul Kahl, public works engineer.
County officials said three of the 21 families being served by the Vale Summit Water Co., are without water and are using 4,000-gallon mobile water tanks known as "water buffaloes."
Mr. Kahl said county officials will continue to monitor the situation.
Monday's rain eased the situation for the largest of the small water utilities in the area, said John Winner, a Lonaconing administrator. The Lonaconing municipal system serves about 5,000 people in Lonaconing, Barton and Midland.
"We're in pretty good shape right now," Mr. Winner said. "Until that rain, things were looking pretty grim."
Mr. Winner said two of the system's three reservoirs are full and a third is down about 4 feet. He said water from area wells has been pumped into the reservoirs since August to augment the supply.