Editor’s Note: On March 25, one day after this article was published, residents reported that their water was restored after 11 days of no water. Some residents say that water flow is not back to full pressure but is steady.
Judy Freestone lives on Lily Pond Road in Parksville, New York, where she’s been without running water for more than a week.
“I’m not functioning,” she said. “I’m taking my clothes to the laundry. I’m going to my son or my daughter’s house to take a shower and grabbing gallons of water when I come back. I’m 76 years old. I don’t need this.”
Freestone is one of about ten households that have not had potable running water at Lily Pond Road for anywhere between two to 11 days.
Village of Liberty Mayor Joan Stoddard says the water shortage is due to water pump failures at the Elm Street well on March 13.
“To compensate for that, we had to increase our draw from the Lily Pond filtration plan. This reduces the pressure in the transmission line,” Stoddard told Radio Catskill in an email. “This situation happens every time a fire hydrant is opened along this line, or the camps along this line open in the Spring.”
Residents say the only communication they received from the Village is a boil water notice dated March 23 for water they do not have. Lily Pond resident Margaret Bachman says the water notice feels like “an additional smack in the face.”
While the homes are located in the Town of Liberty, the Town’s water system isn’t available in the area. The Village of Liberty supplies water as a service to residents Stoddard calls “outside users,” and residents pay their quarterly water bills to the Village. While she’s concerned for these residents, Stoddard says, there is little the Village can do.
“The Village must always first supply the Village residents, and outside users do not have the same rights as a Village resident,” said Stoddard, adding that the Village can’t spend its own funds to upgrade the distribution system since the homes are located in the Town of Liberty, not within the Village.
Lily Pond resident Nick Prague, who bought his home in 2015, disagrees. He’s now been without water for 11 days as of March 24. Prague says the Village should be held accountable for timely upgrades and residential support for water customers.
“[The Village] said it’s not their responsibility, but like I said, they’re collecting money from me. [The month of] May will be 11 years they’re collecting money from me from my water,” said Prague.
Erin Clary, a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Health, said that the Village of Liberty is working to restore full pressure to water users.
“Per Public Health Law (PHL 1135), public water suppliers are required to identify and outline the steps necessary to ensure that potable water is available during an emergency,” said Clary. “The Village of Liberty is the water supplier for this system and is managing the local response. Please contact them directly regarding bulk water and/or timelines.”
Stoddard says the Village has no formal agreement with Lily Pond Road residents.
Recurring water shortages with no clear solution in sight
This isn’t the first time the area’s residents have faced water shortages. Last July, residents say they did not have water for two weeks. They did not receive any water bill deductions for the period they did not have water. Stoddard said that she advised residents in July 2025 to “go to the Town of Liberty to have a water district formed, and a pump station installed to get the water to these homes.”
But both the Town of Liberty Supervisor Frank DeMayo and residents say they never heard of the idea until one day ago.
“It’s not even something that the Town ever even discussed because nobody’s approached us about that possibility,” said DeMayo, saying the Town would likely have to bring tanker trucks up to supply water. “It would be very, very expensive for the people in the district… if that district only encompassed 10 users, that’s a pretty hefty price tag they’d have to pay.”
Bachman says the only advice she’s received from the Village’s water department is to consider drilling a well on her property, which can cost an estimated $15,000. She’s already taken drastic measures to get by, she says, like renting a hotel room just to take a shower.
“On a personal emotional level, I don’t sleep very well. I don’t know what the future holds. Most of us that are affected right now are seniors. Two of us are recent widows, including myself. It is draining,” said Bachman. “I go back and forth from wanting to curl up into a ball and cry and just wanting to scream.”
Stoddard says that the Village is working on getting the Elm Street well pumps up and running again. She’s also not sure how the homes were hooked into the transmission in the first place, she says.
“The houses in Parksville are hooked into the transmission line (we do not know when, who, or how this was done) rather than the distribution line that better regulates water pressure,” said Stoddard.
But Laurie Jordan, who purchased their home on Lily Pond Road with her husband in 2021, said they were connected to the line in 2023 after instruction from former Village water department officials Ken Hessinger and Dave Harman to do so. “This was done following years of bills for water that could not be delivered,” said Jordan.
Residents told Radio Catskill they’re still without water as of Tuesday morning.
“We pay our taxes. We try to maintain our property. We pay our water bill, and we try to live good lives without hurting anybody. All I wanna do is wash my hands in my own sink, and I don’t think that’s unreasonable,” said Bachman.
Image: Copy of the Village of Liberty boil water notice residents received on March 23 (Photo Credit: Kimberly Izar)
this is aheath hazard. poor folks!