Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday declared a Stage 3 drought level for New London and Windham counties due to increasingly dry conditions emerging in the two counties.

The state’s six other counties remain in a Stage 2 drought level, declared on July 14. There are five levels of drought declaration in Connecticut, with Stage 1 representing below normal conditions and Stage 5 being the most extreme.

“Stage 3 identifies a moderate drought event, potentially impacting water supplies, agriculture, or natural ecosystems,” stated a news release about the declaration. “Stage 2 is a notification of an emerging drought and is intended as an awareness stage regarding the possibility of a developing drought.”

The decision to move two counties to Stage 3 was based on an assessment of data monitored by state and federal agencies, including precipitation, surface waters, groundwater, reservoirs, soil moisture, vegetation, and fire danger conditions. A Stage 3 drought condition last was declared in Connecticut in October 2020.

“Connecticut continues to experience the impacts of climate change with this exceptionally dry summer, and while the entire state is experiencing drought conditions, we are seeing the most severe of those conditions right now in the areas of New London and Windham counties,” Lamont said in the news release.

He urged residents and businesses to reduce the impact of the drought by voluntarily reducing water usage. Those who depend on private wells, fire or irrigation ponds, and other highly localized water resources should be especially mindful of local conditions, Lamont said, especially in areas where previous droughts have had “a significant impact on water supplies.”

On Monday, East Lyme’s Water and Sewer Department issued mandatory restrictions on lawn sprinklers, limiting homes and businesses to twice weekly watering schedules.

Norwich Public Utilities announced Monday the utility is continuing to monitor reservoir levels and potential rain forecasts while continuing to ask water customers for voluntary conservation measures.

The NPU Deep River reservoir is at 75% of capacity, and the Stony Brook reservoir is at 85%, NPU spokesman Chris Riley said.

“We have more than 250 days of water supply remaining, nearly 1.9 billion gallons of usable water,” Riley said in an email to The Day.

c.bessette@theday.com