{"id":369682,"date":"2025-12-25T17:16:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-25T17:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/369682\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T17:16:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T17:16:08","slug":"how-oneida-came-to-neighbors-rescue-during-water-emergency-were-not-going-to-say-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/369682\/","title":{"rendered":"How Oneida came to neighbors\u2019 rescue during water emergency: \u2018We\u2019re not going to say no\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oneida, NY \u2014 Oneida water Superintendent Andrew Campany got an urgent call Saturday afternoon: Could the eastern Madison County city help its neighbors avoid running out of water? <\/p>\n

Campany didn\u2019t hesitate. Within hours, Oneida city water crews began preparations that have turned into a life-saver for two nearby villages: Canastota and Chittenango. <\/p>\n

To help, Oneida needed to do one big thing. <\/p>\n

By Monday, Oneida crews opened a 12-inch emergency valve along state Route 5 that connects to Onondaga County Water Authority pipes. That began sending 800,000 gallons of water a day into a system crushed by a massive water main break<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be doing my job if I wasn\u2019t tapping into that valve,\u201d Campany told syracuse.com on Christmas Eve. \u201cIn an emergency like this, we\u2019re not going to say no. Especially during the holiday season, with more kids and families at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oneida\u2019s water has been critical to keep taps running in Chittenango and Canastota, officials said. So far, those two villages, with nearly combined 10,000 residents, seem to be coping, Campany said. <\/p>\n

A rupture reported Saturday in an OCWA water line from Lake Ontario has threatened the water supply<\/a> for six towns: Manlius, DeWitt and Pompey in Onondaga County and Sullivan, Lenox and Lincoln in Madison County. <\/p>\n

\"OCWAWorkers have begun repairing a main distribution line in Cicero that ruptured, jeopardizing water to Manlius, DeWitt and Pompey in Onondaga County and Lenox, Lincoln, and Sullivan in Madison County. Dec. 23, 2025Renee Fox<\/p>\n

Oneida\u2019s efforts were heralded on Christmas Eve by OCWA Executive Director Jeffrey Brown as \u201creally, really instrumental\u201d in keeping the eastern reaches of the water district from going dry. <\/p>\n

The extra water was enough to fill Canastota\u2019s storage tanks to capacity, which is why water was rerouted Tuesday to Chittenango, he said. <\/p>\n

Oneida\u2019s efforts, along with similar help from the city of Syracuse water supply<\/a> and conservation efforts, led OCWA\u2019s reservoirs to hold steady in the last day, Brown said. <\/p>\n

Oneida\u2019s contribution was made possible because of several factors. Early snow melt left Oneida\u2019s reservoir full. People and businesses typically use less water during winter months. (No lawn sprinklers, for example.) Some industries scale back during the holiday season, Campany said. <\/p>\n

But ongoing mandatory conservation efforts are a must for everyone in the six towns affected by the water shortage, Campany said. That includes Sullivan, which contains Chittenango, and Lenox, where Canastota is.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no water to spare, he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur water is able to provide minimum essentials,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

The city of 10,000 gets its water from a reservoir fed by a collection of natural resources: creeks, ponds and groundwater in the Tug Hill Plateau.<\/p>\n

Oneida is capped at providing 4 million gallons of water each day under its permit from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Campany said. That is to prevent damage to the area\u2019s wildlife and ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\"OCWAMadison County gave away free water on Christmas Eve to help residents conserve water. A major distribution pipe that feeds the towns of Lenox, Lincoln and Sullivan ruptured, and officials are urging people to use less water to reserves from running dry.Source: Madison County, Samantha Field<\/p>\n

The valve connecting the Oneida and OCWA systems in Madison County is along a curb of Route 5 in Wampsville. It was built years ago for emergencies like this. The city of Oneida has needed it in the past to get OCWA water during periods of drought, Campany said. <\/p>\n

Once Oneida water enters the OCWA system, the city has no control over where it goes, Campany said. It is mixed in with OCWA water and then distributed through the OCWA system. That water began supplying most of Canastota on Monday and Chittenango on Tuesday, officials have said. <\/p>\n

Not only can\u2019t Oneida provide any more water, but it probably couldn\u2019t reach Manlius, anyway, because there wouldn\u2019t be enough pressure to get it that far, Campany said. In addition, chlorine \u2014 used to kill harmful contaminants \u2014 becomes weaker the further away from the treatment plant it goes. <\/p>\n

As it is, water samples are being monitored in Chittenango and Canastota to confirm there\u2019s still enough chlorine in the water to keep it safe. <\/p>\n

Under normal usage, Oneida\u2019s water would not be nearly enough to cover Canastota and Chittenango, Campany said. <\/p>\n

But because people are doing their part under the mandatory conservation effort, the Oneida lifeline is enough for now, he said. <\/p>\n

The city of Oneida, while not affected by the water main break, is also under a voluntary conservation effort, Campany said. He urged city residents to use water for essential purposes only.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just the right thing to do,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oneida, NY \u2014 Oneida water Superintendent Andrew Campany got an urgent call Saturday afternoon: Could the eastern Madison…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":369683,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-369682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}