'Dire situation' in N.L. town as water supply dries up
The taps have run dry in Sunnyside, and the small Newfoundland town has declared a state of emergency.
Residents of the municipality, located near Come By Chance, were warned of low water levels in the reservoir at the beginning of August. There was nothing left by Sunday morning — no running water to any houses in the community.
"We have residents who have lived here all their lives – like 70 years – and have never seen this happen before," said Sunnyside Deputy Mayor Wanda Simmonds.
Coun. Derrick Marsh said town workers and volunteers were charging the mains so they could pump water from a nearby stream into the reservoir.
Meanwhile, residents relied on bottled water.
One case of water per household
Sunnyside's emergency status helped the town access government funding.
The first purchase was 500 cases of water, said Simmonds.
"A case of water per household," she said.
The town also set up a sanitation depot at the Sunnyside Recreation Centre with 1,000-litre water totes. Residents could bring containers to fill with water for basic sanitation purposes, but not for drinking.
Mayor Roger Snook called it a "dire situation."
"This is unbelievable," he told CBC News on Monday.
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Bed and breakfast adapts
It wasn't easy to accommodate guests with the town out of water, but Sarah Tickner said she was doing what she could.
Tickner owns Sunnyside of Life Bed and Breakfast. When she heard the reservoir was getting low, her husband gathered the equipment needed to pump enough water to flush the toilets.
She told CBC the panic started to set in over the weekend when water stopped coming out of the faucets. She immediately called her guests.
The business owner said her patrons cooperated with the situation and showered before they arrived, but Tickner said more must be done.
"Where [are] our government officials?" she asked. "They've left it to councillors."
The Sunnyside town council delivered water to people who couldn't pick it up themselves, and people from nearby towns offered to help. Tickner said just because the community was eager to help one another doesn't mean they were fine on their own.
"We appreciate everything the council is doing, but this isn't their problem completely. This is a much bigger problem," she said.
"I think there just needs to be a whole other resolution to this."
This article, writty by Maddie Ryan, was originally published for CBC News. Contains files from On The Go, Carolyn Stokes and Heather Gillis. Thumbnail courtesy of Town of Sunnyside/Facebook.