09/09/2022
UPDATE:
Important message to all Kiowa Water and Wastewater Authority (KWWA) customers and Town of Kiowa citizens:
Once the information went out yesterday concerning the motor failure on the Town’s water well staff started receiving an influx of calls and emails citing concerns with “only receiving this information via Facebook”, thus I would like to correct any misinformation floating around out there in the spirit of having complete transparency.
As stated yesterday, at approximately 10am on Wednesday, September 6th, it was discovered that the motor powering the Town’s water well had failed. Resources were called in to remove the failed motor and ascertain if it can be quickly rebuilt or if obtaining a replacement was in order. At the same time, Town staff started making all necessary notifications effectively halting ALL current bulk water sales, the school was asked to cease irrigation of its sports field, and local fire departments were apprised of the situation, in an effort to start conserving. That evening calls were put out to county emergency management personnel requesting assistance.
Yesterday morning at approximately 8am the Town received confirmation that the turnaround time on having that failed motor rebuilt was 4-6 days, at the least. This was unacceptable to the continued operations of our water delivery. Thus, a replacement pump was quickly located in another town and KWWA personnel were sent to retrieve it. As this was all unfolding, calls started going out from Town of Kiowa staff and Elbert County Emergency Management and Elbert County Health Department management to all available local and state resources for assistance. Hence, once we knew the path needed to correct the situation a concerted effort was made by the Elbert County Emergency Operation Center, the Elbert County PIO and the Town of Kiowa staff to get what information we had available, at that time, out to our community and all those affected within the town limits. A press release was made via social media (Facebook, Twitter, and Nextdoor) and via local Denver new stations, as well a CodeRED alert was sent out by the Elbert County EOC to all those registered to receive those notifications. Hence, numerous efforts were made to get the information out to as many as possible in a relatively short period of time.
Moving forward, we asked that those who feel they did not receive proper notification in a timely manner, or even at all, do the following:
1. Follow the Town of Kiowa and Elbert County Government on Facebook and Twitter. If you are following the Town’s accounts all notification of posts made by the Town will notify you via the email address you utilize for either app.
2. If you have not done so already, register with CodeRED to receive critical emergency notifications put out by Elbert County, such as the ones sent out today.
Thank you for your continued support and efforts in conserving the Town’s current water supply as we made necessary and critical repairs. The efforts and guidance put forth by the KWWA personnel, the Town of Elizabeth Water Department, Elbert County staff, State officials and those taking the swift action of conserving water where they could made this a successful and quick recovery of our water delivery system.
