Officials repaired a leak earlier this week at Marion’s Lake George levee that the town’s mayor says could have been part of the root cause for the critical water shortage the western Kentucky city faced last year.
Marion city officials, along with emergency management workers and commercial groups, worked to stop a pipe leak at the Lake George levee discovered in mid-April. This leak was drawing water and sludge into Old City Lake, which is currently the city’s main water source.
Mayor D’Anna Browning said in a social media post Tuesday this pipe leak, combined with a sinkhole at the bottom of the dam, is “the likely root cause of the initial levee damage” from 2022.
That damage led officials to the decision to breach the levee and drain the city’s primary water source in Lake George, which ultimately led to a months-long water shortage for the Crittenden County seat.