March 28, 2024

BREAKING: Final rural area released from drinking water warning

The drinking water warning in southwest Iowa is over 15 days after it first went into effect.

Southern Iowa Rural Water Association announced 1:15 p.m. today that the Rural Ringgold Area (058), the final area remaining under the drinking water warning, was released from the warning, meaning all areas that had been under the warning now have safe drinking water.

Dominoes began falling Sunday evening, when the City of Creston was released from the drinking water warning. By Tuesday afternoon, seven other cities and rural areas had been cleared.

Nine more areas were released Wednesday afternoon, followed by 17 on Thursday and 12 more on Friday. That left just the Rural Ringgold Area, an area that started in southern Union County and went south past Diagonal, covering all of southern Ringgold County and parts of Taylor and Decatur counties, as the only area yet to be released.

The drinking water warning for southwest Iowa first went into effect 8 a.m. Friday, June 1. SIRWA General Manager Dan McIntosh said in an interview with the CNA Thursday morning that SIRWA staff expected to have the warning lifted by Monday or Tuesday, but SIRWA staff was able to clear the final area today.