Here’s how Maize residents could be affected in case of a water emergency
Maize has plenty of water right now, and plans are in the works to add a second water tower and a third ground well.
Even though the town isn’t too thirsty at the moment, the city of Maize updated its rules this week for what to do in the event of what it defines as a water watch, a water warning or a water emergency.
“We’ve always had the ability to be able to go into conservation mode if we ever needed to, and mostly it’s been in case we have major drops in our water levels for our well sites or a malfunction of our water tower,” City Manager Nick Gregory said in an interview with The Eagle.
To the best of Gregory’s knowledge, those plans have never needed to be put in place. Even so, the city’s current water conservation plan had not been updated since 2001, and a lot about Maize has changed since then.
In an effort to be ready for something that the city of Maize hopes it never has to implement, the City Council tweaked its water conservation policy at its June 1 meeting.
In the event of a water watch or water warning, the mayor and city manager are authorized to ask water customers to employ voluntary water conservation measures to limit or eliminate nonessential water uses.
Specifically targeted limitations during a declared water watch or water warning would be water used for outdoor watering for things such as gardens, lawns, trees, shrubs, plants, parks, golf courses, playing fields, swimming pools or other recreational areas. The other volunteer conservation measure would be to limit the washing of cars, trucks and SUVs; boats; trailers; or the exterior of any building or structure.
In the case of a declared water emergency, the city now has the authority to implement mandatory water conservation measures in the aforementioned areas, and add the following: suspension of new connections to the city’s water supply; mandatory restrictions on the use of water at point-of-sale locations; water rationing based on “any reasonable formula including, but not limited to, the percentage of normal use and per capita or per consumer restrictions”; complete or partial bans on the waste of water; and any other combination of measures that the city deems appropriate or necessary.
For purposes of the city’s document, “waste of water” is defined as permitting water to escape down a street, roadway or other surface intended for vehicle driving purposes, and/or any gutter, ditch or other surface drain, or failure to repair a controllable leak of water due to defective plumbing.
Public Works Director Nick Vestering told City Council members before their vote: “It’s important to have an ordinance such as this in place. Should we ever need to request voluntary water restrictions or enforce emergency mandatory restrictions we’d have the means to do so. Also, having this plan in place is required for many forms of different (state) funding.”
That funding could be important as Maize plans to add a second water tower in 2027. It is also seeking permission from the Kansas Division of Water Resources to add a third well.
Last year, Maize used 142.5 million gallons of water, down slightly from the 144.6 million gallons it used in 2024, according to data supplied by Gregory. In 2023, Maize used 143.8 million gallons, 142.0 million gallons in 2022 and 126.2 million gallons in 2021.
The city can declare a water watch or warning whenever the city’s storage falls below 85% of its capacity, groundwater levels fall 5 feet below normal seasonal levels, or a single-day demand is 15% or more above the normal seasonal peak day, according to information supplied by Gregory.
A water emergency can be declared whenever there is a water supply shortage needed for what the city considers essential uses.
Even though Maize has never had to implement these procedures, Gregory said adding a second water tower and an extra well or two will help ensure that the city has redundancies built into its system in the case of a malfunction. Increasing the city’s water supply will also let it compete for more industrial clients, which often use a lot of water.