Water leaks strain St. Martinville crews

City workers here have repaired around 40 leaking water lines over the past several weeks as drought conditions cause ground shifting that disrupts the city’s aging water distribution system.

    Mayor Jason Willis said Monday crews are still learning of leaks that  need to be repaired.

    Expenses involved with the repairs are putting a drain on the city budget the mayor says.

    “You’ve got overtime to pay, repair sleeves to buy, street work where we have to dig up the lines, it’s really adding up,” Willis says. “But our guys are working hard to keep up with this.”

    The mayor is hoping the city might be able to get some federal assistance with the expenses and was grateful that Parish President Chester Cedars has requested a federal disaster area declaration for the parish.

    Cedars told members of the Parish Council earlier this month that he is seeing the effects of the prolonged drought in the parish infrastructure.

    He said that a recent, relatively mild rainstorm had knocked over five trees onto parish roads.

    “That’s an indication to me that we might experience some long-standing consequences to our roads and bridges,” he said, adding that “a harsh winter could aggravate the situation. It’s really unknown how long it will be before we realize the final results of the dry weather.”