KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Crews worked to fix two water main breaks that are impacting dozens of people and businesses near the Country Club Plaza.

Kansas City’s water department said the main near West 48th Street and Baltimore Avenue started leaking around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

Crews shut off the water to make necessary repairs.

“We have a chronic history of water main breaks in September and December,” KC Water Services Director Wes Minder told FOX4.

The water main issue impacted people living in eight apartment buildings and three businesses in the area. The water department warned other customers in the area might have experienced low water pressure.

By 5 p.m. Wednesday, the main was repaired and water was back on, crews told FOX4.

​Minder said water mains break because the ground gets hard in months like December.

“Yesterday, 24 hours ago, it was 59 degrees. Today, it’s 22 degrees, so the ground’s contracted, and we see a high spike of breaks this time of year,” Minder said.

Minder said his department is facing the exact same challenges other city departments are facing with workplace shortages.

“Fifty percent of our pipeline repair group is vacant right now, and so we are out as much as we can as fast as we can,” Minder said. “It’s just a game of Whack-A-Mole right now.”

Minder said the city has an aging water line system, and they’re playing catch up to try to fix the lines.

“Our goal is to get one percent of the system replaced,” he continued. “It’ll last 100 years, so our kids and our grandkids won’t be in this situation that we’re at right now.”

Crews also worked Wednesday to repair another water main at East 49th and Main streets that also broke Tuesday afternoon.

That break did not impact as many people, according to the city, and was repaired by noon Wednesday.

“It’s not a huge client, and it might not mean anything to anybody but me,” interior designer Kevin O’Hare said in an interview with FOX4 Wednesday.

O’Hare takes care of plants for a business inside the same building with Nekter, across the street from the Chipotle.

“I can’t replace their plants if they die because I can’t get in,” O’Hare said.

He feels bad for businesses like Nekter who had their opening delayed Wednesday due to the water main break.

“They’re just really getting full-time open again,” O’Hare continued. “I’ve seen these guys at least doing a fairly good business even though I’m only by here a couple times a week.” 

The Plaza Library Branch didn’t open until 5 p.m. Wednesday due to the water main break.