By Wally Kennedy

Globe Staff Writer

Underscoring the seriousness of the drought, the Tri-State Water Resource Coalition on Wednesday adopted a water-conservation plan for the region, urging communities to begin limiting nonessential water use now.

Bob Nichols, chairman of the coalition, said: "Our goal is to find a good, quality water resource for the area. What is equally important to the development of that resource is the efficient use of what we have."

With no immediate relief from the drought in sight, the coalition is urging communities to look to the future and begin to limit nonessential water use now. The coalition believes that if the area continues to go without significant rainfall, local water companies could be forced to seek mandatory conservation measures.

The coalition put together a water-conservation plan for Southwest Missouri in October, but it did not adopt it, opting to give coalition members time to review it. The coalition adopted the plan Wednesday.

Nichols said the plan will be available to water suppliers across the region as a model to develop their own water-conservation plans. The coalition's membership is composed of private and public water suppliers, municipalities, businesses and interest groups in the Tri-State Area.

"Given the present weather conditions, we hope this will help them adopt some kind of plan," Nichols said. "It is the responsibility of our group to begin to educate the public on the seriousness of this matter. Public support will be essential."

Rivaling records

The coalition, meeting in the basement of Joplin City Hall, heard from a number of people about low stream flows and record water-use rates for this time of year. It also learned that the production of hydroelectricity at dam power sites in the region could be curtailed by as much as 50 percent this summer because of the drought.

Greg Perkins, an environmental engineer with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources at Springfield, said the department is receiving telephone inquiries about voluntary conservation measures from communities across Southwest Missouri, an area that has been hit extremely hard by the drought.

"We urge every city in the area to check their drawdowns regularly to make sure they have water over their pumps," Perkins said, noting that most communities in the region are pulling water from the ground to meet their needs.

Some communities, such as Aurora and Monett, have seen their water tables drop significantly in recent months.

Perkins said the department's position on the drought is that it could rival the drought of record, which occurred in the early 1950s.

Representatives of the water companies in Carthage and Joplin said the drought has not had much of an impact on their deep wells because usage, until recently, has not increased. But, record-breaking temperatures over the past few days has increased usage.