Chalk up another headache in 2020.

About 100 La Conner area water customers north of town were without service for about seven hours Friday while Town Public Works crews scrambled to repair a leaking main damaged by large tree roots.

Turns out, their work was just beginning.

After inspecting the situation, Public Works Director Brian Lease determined the damage was extensive enough to require installation of 200 feet of new water line in a new trench about 15 feet from the existing main, near the west shoulder of the road.

Public Works staff and crews from C. Johnson Co., the Oak Harbor fir...