Oneida, NY — Oneida water Superintendent Andrew Campany got an urgent call Saturday afternoon: Could the eastern Madison County city help its neighbors avoid running out of water?
Campany didn’t hesitate. Within hours, Oneida city water crews began preparations that have turned into a life-saver for two nearby villages: Canastota and Chittenango.
To help, Oneida needed to do one big thing.
By Monday, Oneida crews opened a 12-inch emergency valve along state Route 5 that connects to Onondaga County Water Authority pipes. That began sending 800,000 gallons of water a day into a system crushed by a massive water main break.
“I wouldn’t be doing my job if I wasn’t tapping into that valve,” Campany told syracuse.com on Christmas Eve. “In an emergency like this, we’re not going to say no. Especially during the holiday season, with more kids and families at home.”
Oneida’s water has been critical to keep taps running in Chittenango and Canastota, officials said. So far, those two villages, with nearly combined 10,000 residents, seem to be coping, Campany said.
A rupture reported Saturday in an OCWA water line from Lake Ontario has threatened the water supply for six towns: Manlius, DeWitt and Pompey in Onondaga County and Sullivan, Lenox and Lincoln in Madison County.
Workers have begun repairing a main distribution line in Cicero that ruptured, jeopardizing water to Manlius, DeWitt and Pompey in Onondaga County and Lenox, Lincoln, and Sullivan in Madison County. Dec. 23, 2025Renee Fox
Oneida’s efforts were heralded on Christmas Eve by OCWA Executive Director Jeffrey Brown as “really, really instrumental” in keeping the eastern reaches of the water district from going dry.
The extra water was enough to fill Canastota’s storage tanks to capacity, which is why water was rerouted Tuesday to Chittenango, he said.
Oneida’s efforts, along with similar help from the city of Syracuse water supply and conservation efforts, led OCWA’s reservoirs to hold steady in the last day, Brown said.
Oneida’s contribution was made possible because of several factors. Early snow melt left Oneida’s reservoir full. People and businesses typically use less water during winter months. (No lawn sprinklers, for example.) Some industries scale back during the holiday season, Campany said.
But ongoing mandatory conservation efforts are a must for everyone in the six towns affected by the water shortage, Campany said. That includes Sullivan, which contains Chittenango, and Lenox, where Canastota is.
There’s no water to spare, he said.
“Our water is able to provide minimum essentials,” he said.
The city of 10,000 gets its water from a reservoir fed by a collection of natural resources: creeks, ponds and groundwater in the Tug Hill Plateau.
Oneida is capped at providing 4 million gallons of water each day under its permit from the state Department of Environmental Conservation, Campany said. That is to prevent damage to the area’s wildlife and ecosystem.
Madison County gave away free water on Christmas Eve to help residents conserve water. A major distribution pipe that feeds the towns of Lenox, Lincoln and Sullivan ruptured, and officials are urging people to use less water to reserves from running dry.Source: Madison County, Samantha Field
The valve connecting the Oneida and OCWA systems in Madison County is along a curb of Route 5 in Wampsville. It was built years ago for emergencies like this. The city of Oneida has needed it in the past to get OCWA water during periods of drought, Campany said.
Once Oneida water enters the OCWA system, the city has no control over where it goes, Campany said. It is mixed in with OCWA water and then distributed through the OCWA system. That water began supplying most of Canastota on Monday and Chittenango on Tuesday, officials have said.
Not only can’t Oneida provide any more water, but it probably couldn’t reach Manlius, anyway, because there wouldn’t be enough pressure to get it that far, Campany said. In addition, chlorine — used to kill harmful contaminants — becomes weaker the further away from the treatment plant it goes.
As it is, water samples are being monitored in Chittenango and Canastota to confirm there’s still enough chlorine in the water to keep it safe.
Under normal usage, Oneida’s water would not be nearly enough to cover Canastota and Chittenango, Campany said.
But because people are doing their part under the mandatory conservation effort, the Oneida lifeline is enough for now, he said.
The city of Oneida, while not affected by the water main break, is also under a voluntary conservation effort, Campany said. He urged city residents to use water for essential purposes only.
“It’s just the right thing to do,” he said.
