MARION, Ky. (WSIL) -- The city of Marion, Kentucky is struggling with a depleting water supply after its main source had to be drained.
Two months ago, the city drained Lake George after one of its levees was breached, losing roughly 187 million gallons. That's about a year's worth of water supply, says city administrator Adam Ledford.
Ledford says conserving water is the most important thing people can do, adding that there's roughly 15 days worth of water left in the city's lake. Sunday's rain added to the lake's supply.
"Everytime it rains it is a matter of some celebration here," Ledford said.
Last week, Gov. Andy Beshear signed an emergency declaration, activating the Kentucky National Guard. Over the weekend, guardsmen began pumping water out of the Cumberland River and dumping it into the old city lake.
Ledford says the city uses about 450,000 gallons of water a day. So far, they've been able to pump about 90,000 to 135,000 a day, falling short of what the city needs.
"This is still a crisis," Ledford said. "With us only being able to back cover about 30% of our daily usage conservation is the most critical element of this."
The guard is also helping distribute thousands of cases of water, the bulk coming from leftover donations from Mayfield tornado. Marion resident Dylan Rushing pulled up to the pick-up site to get water to drink, wash and bathe.
"My kids gotta have a bath a lot obviously because they get dirty," Rushing said. "We appreciate the help for real."
Rushing also had to conserve water by not washing as many dishes and using paper plates, cups and disposable utensils.
Workers at Jones 88 Dip had to wait until their dishes got extremely dirty in order to wash them. On Monday, the restaurant used city water for the first time in a while. Ledford says no businesses will face fines if they do.
That move allowed the restaurant to open its bathrooms again. But owner Glenn Conger still plans to keep the port-o-potty's and a pair of 1,300-gallon water tanks to store water to wash dishes.Â
Conger says this shortage may last awhile.
"It's not going to be a tomorrow kind of thing," Conger said. "I'm hopeful that will carry us through... until we can plan on Lake George or whatever plan we come up with for our permanent solution."
There's an emergency meeting scheduled Thursday at 5 p.m at city hall.
The city plans to give an update on the shortage and consider cutting off the city's firework's show next week. Ledford worries about potential fires being put out and cutting into the city's scarce water supply.