Rico residents came face to face with the difficulties of mountain living last week when a series of water leaks threatened the town's water supply and led to water shutoffs throughout town. A week ago, town officials realized there was a leak in the town's water system and started looking for the source. "We knew a week ago that we had a leak," said Rico Mayor Barbara Betts. "They started checking all the meters in town." What was initially thought to be a small leak caused greater alarm in the middle of the week. "On Wednesday night, the tank dropped significantly," Betts said. "The week before we had noticed a small leak in a 2-inch pipe, but they knew that would not be losing 100 gallons a minute." The drop in water supply prompted the town to shut off the town's system, leaving approximately 200 residents without water Thursday. Most residents' faucets were up and running again Friday, according to Betts. Town staff began systematically checking meters, trying to locate the leak. Their persistence paid off. "We found the large leak Friday evening," Betts said. "It is north of town, not on town property. We were able to shut off that area, and everyone had water that night." However, Rico's water supply was not quite out of the woods. "Our town manager and public works director were checking the water in the tank, and we weren't gaining any water," Betts said. "They have gone back to the smaller leak. It is a very old tap, and they had to dig down on Saturday but they couldn't get it to turn off because it is so old. They had to turn off the water in the northeast quadrant of town.

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