(Avoca, Iowa) – Officials with the Regional Water Rural Water Association said today (Friday) in a social media post, “Due to the efforts of its customers and member communities, Regional Water Rural Water District announces that it has downgraded the “Level Yellow” advisory to “Level White”, the voluntary conservation level of its Emergency Water Conservation Plan.

General Manager Tom Kallman stated that the measure was taken due to improved water levels in both their wellfield and the storage towers throughout its Avoca Treatment Plant Distribution System. He cautioned that “ We hope that this decision will help folks enjoy the Christmas season a little more, but we will have no choice but to quickly reimplement the restrictions if water use jumps too high, too fast.”

The “Level Yellow” restrictions began on May 25th. The area affected includes members and customers of the Association in Shelby, Audubon, Cass, Harrison, and Northern Pottawattamie Counties. Included are the communities of Avoca, Portsmouth, Westphalia, Kirkman, Tennant, Panama, Earling, Exira, Persia, and Brayton.

Municipal, residential, agricultural, commercial, and industrial users are asked to observe the following voluntary reduction measures:

A. Don’t water unless absolutely necessary and only between the hours of 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM.

B. Encourage the use of existing private wells where possible.

C. Large volume water users, including industries, motels, hotels, eating establishments, and livestock confinements should conduct a water usage audit to reduce water use accordingly.

D. All water users should examine their plumbing for leaks, check toilets to ensure they are not running continuously, and install water saving devices to toilets, faucets, and showers. Facilities with automatic flush valves should adjust the valves to double the time between flushes.

E. Water users should reduce their shower time, use a lower level of water while bathing in a tub, shut off the water while bathing, shaving, brushing their teeth, or preparing food, and only do full loads of laundry and dishes.

For more information, please contact the Regional Water Office at 712-343-2413.