Utility manager calls reservoir mishap a one-time issue, while council member disagrees

Could cost be a factor?

Despite calls from council member Gary Padesky to raise the minimum water level in La Crosse’s reservoir to three feet, the city public works board decided to keep as is by a 3-2 vote Monday.

On June 18, the city’s reservoir dipped to just six-inch depth, causing a couple dozen homes to run out of water, while the pressure dropped to a third of normal for everyone else. Equipment failures and human error have been blamed for the incident.

The board, however, voted to keep it at the two-foot level, instead of raising it to three – something La Crosse Mayor Tim Kabat requested – which would have cost an additional $26,000 in electric costs alone.

“The system from a technical operating standpoint, based on our operational experience, that’s where the system should be,” La Crosse utility manager Mark Johnson said, who added the June 18 incident was a one-time thing.

Padesky disagreed and argued the two-foot minimum hasn’t been so effective.

“It hit zero twice, it hit six inches before and it hit a little above six numerous times,” Padesky said. “And, every time when I talked to them, they would say, ‘We have things in place.’

“How many times do you have to have an Alamo before we go down and invade mexico and end it? It’s happened before over and over and over again.”

Whatever the minimum, the system will automatically start to refill once it’s below that mark.

“I know nothing about how much water we should be keeping in a reservoir,” board member Bob Seaquist said. “I rely on the experts for that, and given a recommendation that apparently has worked for the past seven years.”