(WKYT) – Lake Liberty has risen about a half foot since last week following recent rainfall, city leaders said, offering some relief after Liberty declared a local state of emergency over low water levels caused by drought. The city depends entirely on Lake Liberty for its water supply, and officials are still urging residents to conserve water.
This summer, the lake dropped to dangerously low levels, worsened by drought conditions.
Conservation restrictions closed car washes
In June, the city tightened conservation restrictions. Car washes were ordered to close, and anyone caught using them faced fines, according to Nicki Johnson, director of the Liberty-Casey County Chamber of Commerce.
“We started the year in a deficit for water, we had some drought last year. We started the year short and we have continued to be short,” Johnson said.
Brad Vaughn owns two car washes in Liberty — JJ’s Car Wash and JJ’s Express Car Wash. He said the restrictions hit his businesses hard.
“In the last six weeks, since they had done it, it pretty well just about eliminated all of my business and so it is just running on fumes,” Vaughn said.
Owner says restrictions fell hardest on car washes
Vaughn said his car washes do not use as much water as other businesses in town, pointing to places like the local McDonald’s. He said he believes the city’s restrictions fell hardest on car washes.
“It mainly came down to just lack of knowledge for them and the regular consumer,” Vaughn said.
The city has since started pumping additional water from the Green River, which Vaughn said he believes allowed him to reopen. He said reopening does not mean recovering.
“It’s hard to put an exact dollar figure on it. What my fear is — is the long-term. I don’t know, down the road, how much if you’ve got a stigma against car washes — if you put that out there — how long will that last,” Vaughn said.
The chamber said the recent rain has helped, but the water supply remains significantly low.
The City of Liberty did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding its water conservation process.
