Crews worked for 24 hours straight to fix three water main breaks on Hwy. 59 in Tarkio near the tennis courts between Maple and College streets beginning at 5:00 p.m. Friday, August 25, and ending at 5:00 p.m. Saturday, August 26, 2023.

Highway 59 was closed in Tarkio at the Hwy. 136 intersection Friday evening and most of the day Saturday while water crews fixed water main breaks on the highway by the tennis courts.

The Salvation Army and a large group of volunteers passed out free packs of drinking water to Tarkio residents. (Tammy Grossman photo)

Hy-Vee in Tarkio also provided free drinking water to Tarkio residents on Sunday afternoon. (Christy Masonbrink photo)

It was a rough weekend for Tarkio folks starting Friday, August 25, 2023, especially the Tarkio Board of Public Works crew and the Professional Waste Water Services crew of Iowa. Around the time most people were heading home from work, the Tarkio Board of Public Works was notified of a water main break by the tennis courts along Hwy. 59. Multiple days of extreme heat had wreaked havoc on the old pipes, causing a break. The city’s water supply was shut off and Hwy. 59 was closed through town so the crew could get to work finding and repairing the leak. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned and around four hours later after they had fixed the line and were repressurizing it, the water main burst again. The crew kept at it even as rain began to fall and darkness took over.  They had to put a dam across the highway and put trench shoring boxes in the hole to keep the rain from filling up the area they were trying to fix. Early Saturday morning, another attempt at fixing and repressurizing the line failed again. However, the workers stuck with it and around 4:30 and 5:00 p.m., approximately 24 hours after the ordeal began, water was restored. Throughout the saga, a huge number of people participated in the work, including the Tarkio Street Department, Highway Department, Sheriff’s Office, Police Department, and Mayor Mark Staten and his family. Whether it was directing traffic on the highway, helping the crew on site, or bringing the workers food and water, everyone was willing to pitch in. Cookies, sandwiches, muffins, and water were donated, and the James Navin and Josh Lundy families even brought entire meals.

During this 24 hour time period, residents in Tarkio were completely without water – not only for drinking from their faucets, but also to flush their toilets or do everyday chores. Late Saturday morning, the Tarkio Parks & Recreation Department invited residents to come to the Tarkio Municipal Pool and fill whatever container they had with pool water to fill their toilet tanks. Many people flocked to the pool to take them up on their offer. There was a run on drinking water at the local grocery store and the store quickly ran out. Once water was restored to homes, a boil order was put into place, but this still left people without drinking water in their homes unless properly sanitized (boiled).

On Sunday, The Salvation Army and Tarkio Hy-Vee provided free packs of drinking water to Tarkio residents. Local volunteers helped distribute the water to each vehicle that pulled up.

As of press time, Tarkio’s water is flowing, but the residents are still advised to keep boiling the water until the all clear is issued. This was a very unfortunate event, but could have been much worse if not for the valiant efforts of all involved to fix the problems, putting aside their own needs and working 24 hours straight. It was another example that when we deal with a crisis here, we all pull together as a community and help one another.

*EDITOR’S NOTE: The boil order was lifted on Tuesday afternoon, August 29.