MARION, Ky. — The western Kentucky town of Marion is running out of water.
What You Need To Know
- Marion is under a State of Emergency because of a water shortage
- Marion’s water source, Lake George, was drained after a levee break
- Residents of Marion have been ordered to halt all “nonessential” water use
- National Guard troops were deployed to distribute bottled water
Before water gets scarce, residents of Marion have switched to bottled water delivered by the state and handed out by the National Guard.
“They’re doing it before we’ve lost anything,” Julie Tinsley explained. Tinsley is volunteering, checking in her neighborhoods as they pick up cases of water. “We haven’t run out yet but we’re trying to conserve it and I think that they’ll… they’ve hooked up to surrounding counties."
The amount of bottled water each car receives depends on the size of the household.
Cassi Walker is also relying on friends and family living outside of city limits for additional water.
“We have dogs and we’ve been getting our friends to bring us, like, gallons of water, and that’s been helping us with that,” Walker said.
Everyone in city-limits has been asked to conserve: in homes, gas stations and restaurants.
“I have friends that actually work at some of these places and they are struggling. I actually live behind Siemens and they were at one point talking about putting in porta potties,” Walker said.
Julie Tinsley has lived in Crittenden County her entire life and in Marion for a decade. She picked up her ration of water before the start of her volunteer shift.
“I live in the city, so I am affected by it",” Tinsley said. “And then my mom is retired from the City Hall, so she’s helping out and I am off for the summer because I teach, so I just gave some of my time today.”
It’s unknown how long the water shortage will last, but Tinsley is bracing for it to last weeks, and maybe longer.