HARRISONBURG, VA (Rocktown Now) – The City of Harrisonburg announced the recent mandatory water conservation order has concluded as the Harrisonburg Water Treatment Plant is back to full service and the amount of stored, treated water has returned to safe levels.

The City issued the conservation notice on Wednesday, May 14, after heavy rains led to significant debris in the City’s water sources that hampered the ability to quickly treat water and prepare it for use by Harrisonburg Public Utilities customers.

A mandatory conservation order was issued to ensure enough water would remain available to community members as crews at the Water Treatment Plant worked to return the facility to full service.

With the plant now running at 100% capacity and sufficient water in storage, community members can resume their normal water usage as of noon today, Thursday, May 22, 2025.

The Harrisonburg City Council declared a local emergency on Friday, May 16, in relation to concerns over available treated water. That local emergency is expected to be rescinded at the next City Council meeting.

“We are very grateful for everything our community did to reduce how much water they used, which gave us enough time to address our needs and get back to where we had to be as a water provider,” Harrisonburg Director of Public Utilities Mike Collins said in a press release. “So many of our customers, especially some of our local businesses, industry and agriculture facilities, stepped up to significantly reduce their usage. We got very important support from our colleagues at Rockingham County. And our team worked incredibly hard, non-stop day and night to overcome these obstacles. We just want to say thank you to everyone who contributed the last few days.”