City of Monroe using Rock Quarry Lake as supplemental water source amid drought

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:00]in water restrictions, the city of Monroe says it's actually conserving water. That's despite this ongoing drought. The city is using a decades-old quarry to help lessen the impacts of our dry conditions. Thanks for joining us tonight on WBTV News 11. I'm John Carter.

[00:00:15]>> And I'm Shevonne Bryan. WBTV's Forest Tucker explains how months of planning is paying off for the city and its residents.

[00:00:25]This sounds may be loud, but to Jay Boyles, it's music to his ears. That's because this pump that's thousands of feet long is helping the city of Monroe avoid mandatory water restrictions as the drought persists, and it's been months in the making.

[00:00:41]>> When we knew that things were continuing to worsen and we were again we're not getting that precipitation, we put this plan into action. Uh we started constructing the pipeline at the beginning of April.

[00:00:53]At one end of the above-ground pipe is Rock Quarry Lake with up to 120 million gallons of water replenished constantly by natural springs.

[00:01:02]At the end of this 6,500 foot pipe is Lake Lee, where 2 million gallons of water is deposited every single day.

[00:01:10]This is actually to help us offset more stringent restrictions that could be in place had we not had this uh Rock Quarry pumping water to Lake Lee. Right now the city uses 6.5 million gallons of water per day, and if the pump didn't exist, residents could face mandatory water restrictions.

[00:01:28]A unique solution to the drought that not many places have.

[00:01:31]>> In brief discussions with the state while we were permitting this project, there were comments made that it's really good that you guys have this in place. In Monroe, Forest Tucker, WBTV, on your side.