The mayor of Wichita says despite recent heavy rain in the area, residents need to keep working to conserve water.
Mayor Jeff Longwell said Thursday that heavy rain in south-central Kansas this month has helped the city's water supply, but conserving water is still important in order to meet future long-term demand. The city says in a release that Cheney Lake, one of Wichita's two primary water sources, gained more than 5.5 billion gallons since the beginning of the month.
Longwell says he's encouraging residents to continue to refrain from watering lawns and to use water-efficient appliances.
He also says two conservation studies will begin later this year to determine how best to encourage outdoor water conservation and water recycling in industrial processes.