GENESEE COUNTY (WKBW) — We all take it for granted, you turn on a faucet and the water comes out. But in Genesee County, there are serious concerns about the supply of this resource.
The county has been under emergency water restrictions for two years now. Groundwater levels have been continuously dropping and the Tonawanda Creek often gets too muddy when it rains — that's all treated all the City of Batavia Water Treatment Plant.
The county also gets half its water piped in from Lake Erie and Lake Ontario — but it's not enough.
There is a plan in the works to eventually close the century-old water treatment plant with a network of underground water lines that would bring in a bigger and steadier supply of water from the lakes.
That plan is expected to cost about $150 million, which Genesee County does not have yet.
For now, the county is focusing on keeping the Batvaia facility running,
