Prineville Reservoir is nearly full — but campground well ran dry over the Fourth and water was trucked in

PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) – The water level at Prineville Reservoir has rebounded to full this year, and is still close to full -- but the well serving the main state park campground has had trouble keeping up with demand. In fact, it ran out of water over the Fourth of July weekend, prompting trucking in of supplies, officials said.

"The well serving the main campground at Prineville has had trouble keeping up with demand during the ongoing drought, even though the well was improved in 2018," Oregon Park and Recreation District spokesman Chris Havel said Thursday. "We had similar problems with water supply in 2021 and 2022."

The park ran out of water on Saturday, Havel said, "and we directed people to use the three vault toilets, and to use the showers and drinking water provided at the park’s smaller campground at Jasper Point, just east of the main campground."

Some water was trucked in on Monday, and Havel said "we expect more today (Thursday), so we were able to restore one camp loop’s flush restroom and half its showers.

"Water service for another camp loop, and all drinking water in the day-use area, is still off," he said. "Where we do have water, we are continuing to ask visitors to conserve. As more water gets trucked in, we hope we will be able to restore additional services."