Water woes strike again

By ADAM CATLIN
NHJ Editor

It was an on-again off-again weekend for water in Newkirk last weekend. The citizens of Newkirk went without water just before 6 p.m. last Friday. Later that evening, the City of Newkirk did admit on their social media page that they believed the outage was related to the lightning strike that impacted the city’s system on June 25.
Just after 7 p.m., the city initially stated on their social media page that water service had been restored. However, there were several claims from people on local social media just before 9 pm, saying they still did not have water restored where they lived.
The city admitted as the system continues to refill and stabilize, it would take some time for water pressure to return to normal in all areas.
It took a few more hours, but late Friday evening the city again issued a statement on their social media page:  “As the system began to build pressure, it became apparent that it was not recovering as expected. During troubleshooting, an additional issue involving the water tower was identified, and crews are actively working to make those repairs.”
Around 8:30 p.m. Sunday evening more water issues hit Newkirk again with more residents around the city going on social media saying they had little if any water pressure. This outage lasted until around 9 p.m. when service began to be restored. That incident occurred just a few hours after the conclusion of the Water Wars event. The city did not issue any response on social media with this incident.
The issue of the water infrastructure in Newkirk has been a topic of discussion in recent years. Former Newkirk Mayor Brian Hobbs wrote on social media back in 2022 of his efforts to improve the infrastructure during his time in office.
“After questioning our water and electric superintendents, they told us that we had a very aged system with significant problems. We were working on a plan to phase in new systems, water supply and sewer, as well as needed electrical repairs,” Hobbs wrote.
At that time, Hobbs also wrote about the age and decay of the water supply lines as well as the lead lines found in the ground.
The topic of the quality of water in Newkirk has also been divisive on the local social media pages. Many residents complain often about the color and taste of their water, wanting the city to do more to address the issue. Others have said they have no problems or issues with it.
The issue of the city’s water has also been a mainstay in city commission meetings in recent years. On May 1, according to the city manager’s report, Newkirk’s sewer lagoon project finally began construction. The city also maintains a water improvement fund with thousands of dollars allocated to it, according to recent commission minutes.