Water woes close Smithsonian buildings

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Smithsonian Institution was forced to close two museums Saturday on the National Mall because they lacked running water, museum and city officials said. The shutdown affected the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian, but both were expected to reopen today, Smithsonian spokeswoman Linda St. Thomas said. "When we don't have water pressure, you obviously don't have running water and you don't have toilets," she said. Crews were replacing a 36-inch valve on Independence Avenue, but they found additional problems and had to drain the water main, reducing water pressure to the surrounding area, said Michele Quander-Collins, of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority. .

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