WYNNE — Despite the ongoing drought, Wynne Water Utilities General Manager Blake Marotti said he is not seeing the water usage that would usually coincide with more than two months of little to no rainfall. Marotti said that’s likely due to the economy.
Marotti presented the monthly usage numbers to the Wynne Water Utilities Board of Commissioners Tuesday. He said water usage is down by about two million gallons year-to-date, with the large majority of that coming from the residential side.
Marotti said industrial usage is actually up about 300,000 gallons from one year ago, while irrigation usage is down more than 600,000 gallons.
Marotti said there are more inactive irrigation accounts this year than he remembers seeing. While around 1.6 to 1.8 million gallons of water per day usually flows through the plant, he said the current average is around 1.3 to 1.4 million gallons per day.
The news is not all bad, however, as Marotti said the dry conditions have allowed the utility to perform smoke testing on its water and sewer lines to see where any cracks or other issues may be. That work is best done when the ground is dry.
Marotti also presented an update on the utility’s financials, noting the picture is not as bad as it may seem. Wynne Water Utilities is currently about $72,000 below budget on sales and $293,000 above budget in expenses versus one year ago. The utility is around $135,300 behind its 2026 budget.
However, Marotti said that is attributed to three things — a blowout at the old plant which required the rental of an emergency bypass pump, a lightning strike at the water treatment plant, and another matter that required an insurance claim. The utility has received $26,000 back from its insurance for the lightning strike and is expected to receive another $60,000 from the other claim. Marotti said all things considered, the utility is actually sitting pretty well two-thirds of the way into the year.
