State issues drought advisory
With precipitation across Connecticut down as much as six inches over the last 90 days, the state Department of Public Health on Monday issued a Drought Advisory.
Customers of public water systems are advised to follow any water conservation recommendations that may be requested by their water utility, and businesses and residents served by private wells should heed the department's water conservation advice, the health department said in a news release.
“I want to emphasize that water levels in Connecticut’s larger reservoirs and water systems are perfectly fine at this point," Dr. Raul Pino, public health commissioner, said. "There are currently no reports of any community public water systems triggering their emergency contingency plans due to below normal reservoir capacities. DPH continuously monitors our reservoirs, and we are not in a drought. However, we have not experienced as much rain as we typically do to this point in the year. Therefore people should be conscientious about their water consumption so that we don’t begin to experience drought conditions later this summer, particularly if rainfall continues to be below average.”
He said some of the state's smaller water systems may be experiencing lower yields and may want to consider requesting water conservation measures from their customers.
The Interagency Drought Advisory Workgroup, comprised of the commissioners of public health and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, and the chairman of the Public Utility Regulatory Authority, monitors and analyzes water-related data to ensure that Connecticut’s water supplies remain stable.
On Monday, the group determined that five of seven drought benchmarks had been met, triggering the state’s entry into the "Drought Advisory Stage." Those benchmarks include: precipitation, groundwater, streamflow, Palmer Drought Index and fire danger.
The remaining two benchmarks, reservoir levels and the Crop Moisture Index, have not been met. Drought Advisories were previously declared in 2002, 2007 and 2010, the news release said. If conditions continue to decline, a Drought Watch would be issued.
The water conservation fact sheet for businesses and residents who have private wells can found at: http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/drinking_water/pdf/guidance_for_private_well_users.pdf; drought guidance for consumers can be found at: http://www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/drinking_water/pdf/drought_pws_customers.pdf.
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.