IDAHO CITY, Idaho — It's a tale of how a neighborhood comes together in the face of adversity.
After an overnight storm shut down the city's water supply, the residents of Idaho City are working overtime to clean out the region's overwhelmed filtration system.
"We had a lot of lightning, we had a lot of rain," said Dave Martin, a volunteer with the Idaho City Fire Protection District.
According to Martin, about 90 percent of their water comes from Elk Creek. "Our source water stream suffered some landslides up above, and it was very silted," added Martin. "Then, about four in the morning, all this came rushing down the creek and loaded up our water department's sand base."
See how Idaho City came together in the face of a water crisis
Idaho City Mayor Kenny Everhart showed us how dirty Elk Creek remains.
Everhart explained to Idaho News 6 how all that silt and mud eventually made its way into the city's natural filtration tank, where about a dozen workers and volunteers continue to do cleanup by hand.
"This one's clean, and they're just finishing that one [over there]," said Mayor Everhart of the efforts to unclog the filters used by the city.
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One resident told me, "We have no water, thanks to that storm yesterday."
So until they get the filters cleaned and Elk Creek starts to clear, which they hope happens in the next day or two, the Idaho City Fire District is handing out cases of water to neighbors who need it. They also have a freshwater tank behind City Hall where residents can fill bottles and jugs.
As a woman was loading fresh water bottles into her car, she simply said with a smile. "We're all good, we're not going to fight over it."
