Storm Lake warns water conservation may become mandatory soon

Storm Lake officials are warning that water conservation could soon become mandatory if demand keeps climbing above 5 million gallons a day. The city is still asking for voluntary restraint, but the pressure is already showing up in the plant, the wells and the daily habits that add up fastest in hot weather.

The city’s formal conservation plan, adopted in 2022 under its Iowa Department of Natural Resources water-use permit, sets stage 2 at 3.5 million gallons per day and asks users to cut use by 15% while the city scales back some of its own operations, including sewer, hydrant and street flushing. The production system includes 3 towers and 9 well sites, and drinking water comes from 10 wells spread across several aquifers.

Demand has topped 5 million gallons per day on multiple recent days, and the shallow wells that help feed the system have become another pressure point. When dry conditions linger, rainfall does not fully recharge the static water level underground, which reduces the cushion Storm Lake relies on during peak summer use. The U.S. Drought Monitor now shows portions of Buena Vista County and much of northwest Iowa in Abnormally Dry conditions.

If voluntary conservation fails, tighter limits on household watering, business use and other summer activities would follow. City officials have urged residents to cut lawn watering, especially during the heat of the day, reduce car washing and use each gallon more carefully. The municipal system also serves Lakeside and Truesdale.

In 2024, Storm Lake moved from voluntary to mandatory conservation, while leaders also weighed the age of a plant built in 1978 and upgraded in 2002, 2004 and 2014. City officials said more than $15 million had already gone into water infrastructure over the previous seven years. A city committee later said a new plant could raise capacity from 5 million gallons a day to 8 million, and a preliminary engineering report recommended an 8.8 million-gallon-per-day facility.

The city formed a Water Treatment Plant Design Advisory Ad Hoc Committee in mid-2025, and by June 2026 the council had chosen Bolton & Menk to lead design work. City Manager Keri Navratil and Public Works Director Matt Beckman have been presenting the capacity problem to the council.