Rains to Dampen Parched Northeast

OSTON, Massachusetts, November 8, 2007 (ENS) - The drought that has gripped Northeastern states since the driest August in 122 years soon may be over. The remnants of Tropical Storm Noel dropped heavy rains over eastern Massachusetts on November 3, resulting in the elimination of drought in the Cape Cod area.

Light to moderate precipitation ended the drought in western New York but rainfall amounts were not enough to end the drought farther west, affecting Rhode Island, Connecticut, and parts of Massachusetts.

Today, weather forecasters are predicting light rain across the Middle Atlantic region. Over the weekend, the rain may change to snow showers across higher elevations of southern New York and Pennsylvania. On Saturday, rain showers and gusty winds are forecast for parts of southeastern New England.

Massachusetts declared a drought advisory in four regions of the state in mid-October following an exceptionally dry August and September that caused rivers, streams, lakes and ponds to be well below their normal levels for this time of the year. Stream flows that in some areas of the state are less than five percent of normal.

Due to the lack of rainfall and low water levels, 78 municipalities informed the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, MassDEP, this year that they instituted outdoor water use restrictions to conserve water. Last year, MassDEP received information on water bans in just 25 communities.

MassDEP says approximately two-thirds of the state's public water suppliers are meeting the appropriate performance standards for their watershed.

To help communities conserve drinking water, the state has awarded grant funding totaling $662,397 to 21 projects as part of the 2008 Water Conservation Competitive Grant Program.

"It is critical for the health of our natural resources and our economy to better manage our public water supplies, especially within our most stressed watersheds, and to reduce the attendant energy used to pump and treat that water," said MassDEP Commissioner Laurie Burt.

Receiving the grant funds in this round are: Hadley, Wareham Fire District, Concord, Norfolk, Middleborough, Haverhill, Holden, Sharon, Pembroke, Danvers, New Bedford, West Boylston, Lexington, Hopedale, Freetown, Shrewsbury, Bridgewater, Pepperell, the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, and the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority.

Burt said, "These grants will help drinking water systems and municipalities to implement projects that will directly benefit watersheds by reducing the demand on our aquatic resources and the resulting demand on our local budgets."

Low streamflows led to the addition of a national drought designation this week for central Pennsylvania, where 60 day rainfall has been less than 60 percent of normal.

The lack of significant rain over most of Pennsylvania during September and October prompted the state to expand its drought watch declaration to 53 counties. Clinton County was placed in a drought warning because numerous water suppliers are having problems meeting demand.

In Connecticut, the government issued a drought advisory in October and directed all state agencies to conserve water at state facilities.

"We all must do our part to cut down on our water usage and the State of Connecticut will lead by example with our conservation efforts," said Governor M. Jodi Rell. "Rainfall totals over the past few months have been 35 percent below normal."

Rell asked all residents and businesses to set a voluntary water use reduction goal of 10 percent, whether served by public water systems or private wells, and cut back on watering lawns and washing cars.

"Water conservation is simple and just requires common sense. Turn off the tap when brushing your teeth, take shorter showers, don’t water your lawn and do larger loads of laundry," the governor advised.

Reservoirs across the Connecticut are still well below capacity and the Quinebaug, Housatonic and Naugatuck rivers are flowing at seriously low levels.

Town officials in Bristol, Manchester, Norwich, Sprague, Greenwich and Sharon have enacted emergency rules regarding water conservation.

The governor recommended that each Connecticut municipality designate an official "drought coordinator" to serve as a liaison with local water utilities and state agencies.

• august and september
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• conservation
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• drought
• island connecticut
• lack of rainfall
• lakes and ponds
• moderate precipitation
• northeastern states
• oston
• outdoor water
• press releases
• rain
• stream flows
• turn off the tap
• water
• water usage
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