Major Water Line Break Causes Oskaloosa Residents To Struggle For Water And Information Sunday

February 5th, 2023

Oskaloosa, Iowa – A major waterline broke early Sunday morning on the east side of Oskaloosa, causing water pressure to drop across the city.

The first real test for Oskaloosa’s new city manager Amal Eltahir proved to be a mixed bag of results. However, the good from the day has come from city workers, including those from the water department and first responders, and not from the city manager’s office.

Unfortunately, little information about the break and how it was impacting the community was available. Other than confirmation from the Oskaloosa Police Department and the Oskaloosa Fire Department that a break had occurred was the only official information being provided.

The alert on the city’s website wasn’t updated with information, and Eltahir, who lives in a distant county, wasn’t officially heard from during the crisis.

No additional information was available besides a statement from a local council member, and an eventual note was released about the boil order on the city’s social media pages.

Oskaloosa Police provided the initial information so residents, and in the early morning hours, Mahaska County Emergency Management began working on plans to help provide the community with water.

As the morning moved on, Mahaska County Emergency Management [MCEMA] swung into gear, initiating plans they have used in the past to help the city residents through the crisis.

Mahaska County Emergency Manager Jamey Robinson said in an interview with Oskaloosa News on Sunday afternoon, “We immediately went to work and started working with our local partners and identifying some of the needs, and one of the big needs was water, potable water for our residents.”

Robinson and the rest of MCEMA began making calls, and one of the first was to Hy-Vee and their disaster response team.

After ensuring Mahaska Health was in good shape, Robinson and team then made arrangements to keep fire protection available, considering the lack of water. “We coordinate with the fire departments. One of the concerns this morning was with the water pressure. We need to come up with a way to get water where it needed to be.”

Robinson also coordinated with Oskaloosa Municipal Water Department to ensure they had what they needed to help stop the leak and move forward with the repair.

Then truckloads of water began their trip to Oskaloosa. Robinson explained, “We just thought we better get this going now than waiting till, you know, we’re behind the eight ball.”

In some irony, MCEMA is fighting for its ability to provide such emergency services for the city into the future.

In a recent study, Oskaloosa hired a consultant to look at 911 services and EMA. That report will be given to the Oskaloosa City Council on Monday night.

The city of Oskaloosa has teamed up with Mahaska County and its supervisors to fund the study.

In a draft of the recommendations, the consultant Resource Management Associates, who focuses on 911 services, provided their initial report on their findings.

The report states that EMA should be degraded to a single individual at 20 hours per week.

The group seems to have given confusing recommendations during their report, saying, “Mahaska 911 should reconsider having EMA and management staff work as telecommunications and instead consider paying telecommunicators overtime pay when necessary.”

“Based on conversations with EMA and PSAP [Public Safety Answering Point] staff and the data provided, telecommunicators very rarely work any overtime because the 911 Director and two EMA personnel fill in at the console during leave periods and holidays. While this environment has probably contributed to higher morale and a concomitant lack of turnover in the PSAP [911 Center], the PSAP is actually covering those shifts with much higher paid staff than necessary,” says Resource Management Associates in various statements in their report.

Not included in the report was the amount of grant money that MCEMA brings into the county annually, providing equipment for times of need and financial assistance to residents from federal agencies during those times.

It also doesn’t outline the leadership provided to CERT [Community Emergency Response Team], which helps provide volunteer manpower to the county and community during emergencies, such as Sunday, or providing relief for firefighters and other first responders.

The group also helps those impacted by disaster by providing shelter and other necessities during those times through their non-profit status.

The Oskaloosa City Council will meet Monday at 6 pm when the full official report will be released, and residents will be able to find out further information on the water disruption.

We went to the Oskaloosa Water Department for a comment, but no one was available at the time.