The City of Coffeyville issues a Stage One Water Watch.

The watch has been issued due to a lack of sufficient rain over the last several months as drought conditions have continued. In August, the City was notified by the Kansas Department of Agriculture that natural streamflows in the Verdigris River had fallen significantly. Due to this, the City has had to request additional water from Elk City Reservoir to meet their water use demands. The City has a Water Purchase Contract with the State of Kansas that guarantees a total amount of 500,000,000 gallons of water be stored and reserved for their use in Elk City Reservoir.

The City has used a total of 250,000,000 gallon. This water watch applies to Coffeyville residents and businesses as well as the Industrial Park, the Cities of Dearing and South Coffeyville, Montgomery County Consolidated Rural Water District 1 and 2, Montgomery County Rural Water District 14, Labette County Rural Water District 6 and Nowata County Rural Water District 7. The goal of this stage is to limit or eliminate non-essential water use including limitations on sprinklers, car washes, filling of swimming pools, the use of fountains and evaporative air conditioning systems.