05/27/2026
Water System and Reservoir Update
After a full day of discussions with the State, engineers, testing companies, and Town staff, I want to provide an update on where things stand. The South Reservoir reached capacity late yesterday, which is an important step forward. However, the State has added an additional requirement before the reservoir can be brought back online: VOC (volatile organic compound) testing. Under normal circumstances, those test results can take up to two weeks. To help move the process forward as quickly as possible, the Town has approved expedited testing, which should reduce that timeline to approximately seven days. As a result, the conservation order will need to remain in effect until those results are received. We were, however, able to present a plan that the State has accepted for lifting the Boil Water Notice in the coming days. Intensive testing of the water system began this afternoon and will continue tomorrow morning to confirm that the drinking water is free of contaminants. Those samples will be delivered to the laboratory tomorrow, and we expect results sometime Thursday or early Friday.
This process has proven more complex than anyone anticipated, and we would not have reached this point without the creativity, persistence, and first-hand knowledge of our team. I want to especially recognize our water operators, Kean Galunas and Zach Letourneau, as well as our project engineer, Nate Pion, for their dedication and the extraordinary amount of work they have carried throughout this effort. Their commitment has been essential in helping the Town navigate these challenges.
I know many residents have raised questions about whether this situation could have been handled differently, and we are taking those concerns seriously. There are still aspects of this system—and how it performs under these conditions—that remain uncertain. The Town has not operated with only one reservoir in more than 40 years, and conditions today are very different than they were then. We now have significantly more homes around the lake and many more connections to the system. What was once a fully redundant system is now far more strained when one major component is taken offline. I spoke with our engineers this afternoon, and they are already evaluating what will be necessary when the larger refurbishment project begins next year. A key part of that work will involve continued cooperation from the community to reduce non-essential water use when requested. Other alternatives would add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the project, costs that would ultimately fall to our ratepayers. While the Town has rarely had to ask residents for this kind of support, it is common in many communities, and we have been fortunate for many years to avoid it.
I also want to address communication. Reaching every water user in Town quickly and directly is challenging, particularly for a small community with limited staffing. If all account holders were enrolled in the customer portal, we would at least have email contact information for everyone. Despite including the portal link on every bill for the past two years, along with mailings and social media reminders, only about 40 of our 700 accounts are currently enrolled. In addition to posting updates on the Town website and page, we distributed more than 500 flyers through local businesses, and the conservation emergency was covered by local television and radio outlets. We used every communication method currently available to us, but there are practical limitations for a town of our size.
In closing, I want to thank our residents for their patience, understanding, and cooperation as we continue this important infrastructure work. Refurbishing a system like this requires careful planning and measured risk, and while the process can be difficult, it is necessary to ensure the long-term reliability of our water system.
Our water operators are asking all customers to continue limiting unnecessary water use until both reservoirs are fully back online. They remain focused on restoring normal operations and lifting the Boil Water Notice as soon as test results allow.
Thank you,
Mike Strait
Town Manager
