Update at 12 p.m. Dec. 24: County Executive Ryan McMahon said on Christmas Eve the county will bring water supplies to affected areas. The county is storing 30,000 cases of bottled water at the Oncenter, but that will not be the distribution center. This story has been updated to reflect that.<\/p>\n
Syracuse, N.Y. \u2014 Onondaga County is preparing to distribute large amounts of bottled water to residents if the local water system runs dry<\/a>, which could happen as soon as this weekend.<\/p>\n County Executive Ryan McMahon said the county stands ready to distribute thousands of gallons of bottled water that residents could use to drink or for sanitary purposes.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there are impacted areas, we will be able to get you water,\u201d he said at a news conference Tuesday. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason to think you won\u2019t have water. It won\u2019t be the ideal way.\u201d<\/p>\n A rupture to a major water transmission line operated by the Onondaga County Water Authority has caused<\/a> a water shortage in six towns in eastern Onondaga County and western Madison County. Officials have issued<\/a> a mandatory conservation notice, telling customers to limit their non-essential water usage.<\/p>\n Water consumption appears to be trending down, officials said. But more cutbacks are needed or certain areas could be out of water as soon as Sunday.<\/p>\n The areas most vulnerable to losing water are the southern part of the village of Manlius, the northern portion of the town of Pompey and parts of the village of Fayetteville.<\/p>\n McMahon said the county is paying close attention to water usage data. He said bottled water distribution would begin if the numbers show a \u201clikely stoppage\u201d of water service.<\/p>\n McMahon is likely to discuss more details about the plan at a news conference scheduled for noon Wednesday.<\/p>\n McMahon said the county has begun ordering large amounts of bottled water from Kinney Drugs and Tops Friendly Markets. He has not said where residents would be able to get the water.<\/p>\n Tops spokesperson Kathy Sautter told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard that the company will start delivering bottled water Wednesday to the county. Thousands of cases of water is being trucked in from the company\u2019s Buffalo-area warehouse.<\/p>\n John Marraffa Jr., the president of Kinney Drugs, said the county executive\u2019s office had reached out Tuesday morning about supplying water.<\/p>\n Marraffa said the company has agreed, \u201cuntil the county tells us to stop,\u201d to provide about 4,000 one-gallon jugs and 2,500 24-picks of bottled water a day. The first shipment is set to arrive Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re communicating daily with the emergency management team, multiple times a day,\u201d he told syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. \u201cThis is easy for us. We\u2019re excited to be called on to help our communities.”<\/p>\n