| Summary: | This image is a photograph used in the book Auburn, a Pictorial History of the Loveliest Village by Mickey Logue and Jack Simms, 3rd edition, 2013, depicting the history of the city and the university. From page 216: Auburn's main water source, Lake Ogletree, looked like a narrow creek in places during the drought of 1954, the then driest year on record in the city. The lake had been "drained the previous winter and spring to permit the installation of a new and bigger intake structure for pumping the water to the water treatment facility on Lake Wilmore," Vernon "Pap" Watwood, a former resident, recalled in 2002. "I do not know precisely when the work was completed and the valve close, but in any event it would take considerable rain to fill it once empty." But less than half the normal rainfall fell from January through October, leaving the lake with less than 4 percent of its normal level of water. Meanwhile, the water shortage caused the college to close on Thursday for a long weekend in late October. Emergency steps were taken to supplement and conserve the water supply until winter rains ended the drought. Photo source: Auburn University Photographic Services.
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