For immediate release June 4, 2021
City of Minot issues mandatory water restriction
The City of Minot has issued a mandatory water restriction of all outdoor water use, including any lawn watering, car washing, or other uses. Public Works Director Dan Jonasson said the overall water usage is still exceeding the production capacity at the Minot Water Treatment Plant due to reduced raw water capacity. All commercial and residential users are urged to shut off their sprinklers and only water new lawns or sod that has been planted or landscaping on an as-needed basis. City water reservoirs are at critical low levels and due to high water usage, reservoirs are not able to be refilled. Besides the city of Minot, other users of Minot water include rural water systems, Minot Air Force Base, and those who receive water through the Northwest Area Water Supply system. Jonasson said the water restrictions are due to several wells in the raw water system that have failed, limiting the amount of water that can be produced at the Minot Water Treatment Plant. Crews are expected to be on site Monday to complete well repairs and restore the raw water capacity for treatment. Water usage in the city has risen to about 11 million gallons per day, which is approximately one million gallons a day more than the treatment plant can currently produce with the limited amount of incoming raw water. “We need all of our water customers to limit their water usage until repairs to the well are done. With reservoirs at a critical low level, we have concerns with adequate fire flow for fire sprinkler systems and overall firefighting capability,” Jonasson said.