By JIM AUSTIN
Editor

The hot, humid weather is predicted to continue and so will the village's water restrictions.

Water superintendent Brian Clancy and Mayor Wendell Tripp discussed the situation Tuesday morning and decided to keep the restrictions in place rather than lift the ban as had been previously planned.

"We had hoped to lift it today, but it was our fear that if we lifted it, we'd just have to put in back on," he said.

The village has been asking residents and businesses to restrict certain water uses and also to put conservation measures into place.

"We ask that all water users check for leaks in their systems and make every effort to conserve water," the mayor said.

According to Tripp, the filtration plant is operating at maximum capacity and any increase in demand or a mechanical failure could trigger a water emergency.

Tripp said residents have been extremely cooperative in curtailing watering lawns and shrubs and washing cars at home. There are exemptions to the restrictions, specifically flowerbeds and vegetable gardens which may still be watered conservatively.

Clancy called for the water restrictions two weeks ago on July 25 and because of the Hall of Fame Induction weekend decided to keep them in effect until Tuesday.

Low rainfall and hot weather were the driving force behind the alert. Clancy said that demand topping 900,000 gallons a day kept pumps in the water department working around the clock for three-and-a-half days beginning on July 23 and prompted him to issue the notice.

Although hot summer weather is being blamed for the concern about water usage, the real culprit is the surge in the number of tourist accommodations in the village, according to the mayor. "Growth is accompanied by demand in services," he said.

Clancy said more specifically that the Cooperstown Dreams Park, which brings many families to the area for a week-long stay to watch sons and daughters play baseball, has changed water usage patterns.

"We can tell when they open and we can tell when they close," he said.

Clancy, whose father served for many years on the village water board, said he could remember only one water emergency in the village and that was in the 1970s when the intake line that brings in Otsego Lake water was inadvertently plugged while it was being cleaned.

The village, he said, had a boil water warning in 1986 when a number of beaver dams broke and Route 80 was washed out above the golf course. Officials were worried about water possibly contaminated with bacteria that cause "beaver fever" draining into the lake and entering the village water system.

In the event of an emergency caused by a mechanical failure at the water plant, Clancy said they would enlist the assistance of the fire department to pump water from the river into the water system through a fire hydrant. A boil water order would also be put into place.

The current water restriction notice will expire on Monday, August 13.