MOUNT PLEASANT–Mt. Pleasant is keeping its promise to start issuing citations to those failing to obey the current water restrictions. The first citation was issued Thursday, September 3rd a citation to a Mt Pleasant resident for violating city ordinance 8-1A-6, “Refusing to obey water schedule”.

Mt. Pleasant Police Chief Jim Wilburg issued the ticket to Mary Whipple, who has been charged with a Class C misdemeanor. The offence allegedly took place on Wednesday, September 2nd. Whipple will be required to pay a fine or fight the charges in court. Wilburg is also investigating other reported water abuse cases.

“People are concerned” about the lack of water, he remarked when asked about the citations. Some of the reports of abuse are being received from city residents, he said.

Mt Pleasant went on one-day-a-week watering restriction on August 10, 2020. Mt Pleasant gets 12 to 14 inches of rain, on average, per year. Precipitation averages between .08 and 1.1 inches in the summer, but following a record-breaking dry spring, little to no measurable rainfall has been reported for the last three months. This has resulted in extreme drought conditions in the city of Mt Pleasant and surrounding areas.