Crater Lake National Park low on water

BEND, Ore. – Oregon’s only national park is running low on water.

The Klamath Tribes has placed a water call on the Wood River, the river Annie Creek flows into. Annie Creek is Crater Lake National Park’s main water source.

The park uses the creek for its drinking water, showers and more. As a temporary solution for the water shortage before the park’s summer tourism season gets underway, park officials are having to truck in water from California.

“We’ve never had to do this before,” said Marsha McCabe, spokeswoman for Crater Lake National Park. “We’re in a situation right now where we can’t use our main water supply.”

Crater Lake is working with Action Sanitary, a company based in Lower Lake, California, to have water delivered by truck. The company is providing two trucks daily, each holding around 6,000 gallons of water. McCabe said the federal government provided $400,000 in relief funding for the months of May and June to fund the project.

McCabe said the park’s long-term solution is to build a well near the park entrance to feed its water needs on a more permanent basis. But with large portions of the park still covered in snow, construction likely won’t be complete until the end of summer at the earliest, long after the majority of annual visitors have already ventured into the park, the Bend Bulletin reported.

Crater Lake National Park attracted 756,000 visitors during 2016, and 367,000 of those came in July and August alone, according to the National Park Service website.

McCabe said the park uses around 36,000 gallons of water during a typical May day, but in the heart of the summer, that number nearly doubles.