We're deep in a drought in our region now. It's the worst since 1955.
So Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is asking the USDA for disaster designations in nearly all 102 counties.
So far 30 counties have the designation.
Cities in Illinois and Iowa are keeping a close watch on their water supplies.
The Iowa DNR says cities with shallow wells could be at risk as the drought continues.
Several cities in our area have already asked residents to restrict water.
Monday afternoon Morrison lifted that restriction, because leaders say tests are back up above limits.
And while water is becoming an issue all over, because of this drought and heat, three Illinois towns are asking people to conserve water for a different reason.
A pump and a well broke on Friday and crews are working hard to get water flowing again.
A failed water pump has Media, Raritan, and Roseville, Illinois all conserving water. As the water district makes needed repairs."
Warren County Fair Board member Lynn Shimmin says, "We're mighty lucky it didn't happen Wednesday through Saturday of this week."
He says the fair is using a lot of water this year. But the conservation notice is coming in between the fair's heavy watering periods.
"Today's actually only set up, there's no livestock here, we're not actually watering the track yet, because our evening activities start on Wednesday night, so perfect timing."
The problem started Friday, when one of the Dallas Rural Water District's well fields began acting up. The company hasn't been able to fix the problem yet, prompting the extra caution along the water line.
Roseville Mayor Mike Kirby says, "It's harder for them to pump water to all the areas that are in the rural water district, so we have to conserve our water, hopefully it'll be back up by tomorrow."
He says the three towns are asking people to stop watering their lawns. His water tower stores about two and half days worth of water for Roseville. But he's asked businesses to help out.
"We're not watering our plants, those types of things, it's not affecting the residents in any way," says Roseville Rehabilitation Center Administrator Ethel Louge.
The nursing home uses around 150-thousand gallons of water a month. Louge's confident the water pump will be fixed soon. But they do have an emergency water contract in place.
"If we need extra water we have a vendor that will bring it in for us."
All three towns have been asked to conserve water over the next two days, although the Dallas Rural Water District expects those repairs to be complete by tomorrow.
The water district doesn't know what caused that pump and well to act up over the weekend near Warsaw, Illinois.
They're getting some water production out of the area.
But they're still working to bring it back to 100 percent.
