Regional Water would like to announce today, June 2^nd, 2023, that the Boil Advisory which went into effect on May 25^th is lifted effective immediately, while the mandatory water usage restrictions remain in effect for the users of its Avoca Treatment Plant Distribution System. These restrictions will help prevent system pressure issues which occurred on May 25^th due to the drought and the reduced availability of water in the Avoca Wellfield. The affected area 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, Exira, Persia, and Brayton.  Municipal, residential, agricultural, commercial, and industrial users will be required to continue the following mandatory reduction measures:

1. No watering or irrigation of lawns whatsoever. Watering of flowers, vegetable gardens, trees or shrubs less than four years old, and new seedlings and sod is permitted once per week, with an application not to exceed one inch and only between the hours of 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM.
2. No car washing, except at commercial establishments that provide that service as their only means of income. In these cases, hours of use will 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.
6. Schools are strongly urged to cancel their physical education activities and inter-scholastic competitions that require showers or attract crowds and take other actions to reduce water consumption.

The system continues to work with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to resolve the situation. The best thing that the communities and residents can do is to conserve water at this time. For more information, please contact the Regional Water Office at 712-343-2413.