HELENA-WEST HELENA, Ark. — The leader of the water department in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas, was fired Tuesday after town leaders lost confidence in him with their community still without water since mid-January.
Helena-West Helena Councilman Don Etherly told ABC24 Wednesday the general manager of the town's water and sewer department, W.H. Calvin Murdock, was fired by the mayor Tuesday after holding the position for a year.
Many of the city's residents are still without water two weeks after winter weather badly damaged the water infrastructure.
The outage affected about 1,400 residents of Helena-West Helena. It is the second in the past year for the town 52 miles (84 kilometers) southwest of Memphis located along the Mississippi River. The town faced a similar crisis last summer when the same part of the city was without water in June.
Etherly told ABC24 while the town's infrastructure was already dated and crumbling when Murdock took over in 2023, town leaders have been disappointed with the performance of the water department, referencing issues with revenue and expenditures.
"From my perspective, we didn't get anything that we expected and I think the mayor just felt like it was time to part ways," said Etherly.
Mayor Christopher Franklin will lead the search for the next general manager.
“The issues we’re facing now have been building up for decades,” said John Edwards, a former state lawmaker and executive director of an industrial park who the mayor tapped to assist in responding to the crisis.
It is the latest U.S. community to face water shortages or other issues from aging infrastructure, as questions linger about how it will pay for long-term repairs.
The outages are affecting one of two water systems for Helena-West Helena, which was two separate cities until 2006. One of the wells serving the system failed during recent winter weather, under pressure from leaks and dripping pipes.
“It’s hit or miss,” Russell Hall, director of the Phillips County Office of Emergency Management said. “One house might have halfway decent pressure, and another house might have a trickle, depending on gravity and other things.”
The state National Guard has brought in a water truck to provide potable water and a 16-stall portable shower for residents to use. Each day, the distribution sites attract a steady line of people filling up on water for use in their homes.
The Helena-West Helena City Council passed a resolution on Tuesday, Jan. 30 to give residents 25% off their water and sanitation bills for the month of January.