Thanks to a new water storage terminal, Lee's Summit, Mo., is meeting water demands that previously had forced the city to implement voluntary water rationing each summer. Construction of the $12.4 million South Terminal was completed last year in partnership with the Kansas City Water Department, which will supply Lee's Summit with up to 20 million gallons per day (mgd) of water.

Dry summers are the norm in Lee's Summit, but water shortages reached crisis levels in 1997, when daily demand hit record highs, exceeding the city's storage capacity of 14 million gallons. During that time, the city supplemented water pumped from nearby Kansas City and Independence with tower water, but it could only draw down limited supplies before water pressure dropped.

Although rain provided some relief in subsequent years, the city — working with Topeka, Kan.-based Bartlett & West — moved forward with plans to increase water pressure and supply capacity. In July 2001, it installed a 3-million-gallon, elevated water tank to enhance pressure, and, later that year, it began constructing the South Terminal.

Consisting of a 6.8-mgd tank and a pump, the South Terminal stores water supplied by Kansas City. (Lee's Summit and Kansas City have a supply contract that could span 90 years if Lee's Summit exercises its renewals.) Water is delivered to the facility via a 42-inch main, which Kansas City constructed.

The terminal can handle 30 mgd, and 10 mgd are reserved for customers other than Lee's Summit. For now, Lee's Summit receives 5.5 mgd of water from the South Terminal, and officials are prepared to install additional mains to expand supply as necessary.