"Critical Drought" conditions persist across Massachusetts

 Much of Massachusetts remains under a Level 3 Critical Drought — one step lower than the most dire rating. The entire state besides the Cape and Islands Region is experiencing extremely dry conditions.

Meantime, the Butternut Fire in Great Barrington is now under control, thanks in part to recent precipitation.

But officials say the risk of wildfires remains high. To discuss the drought and fire risk, WAMC's Lucas Willard spoke with Vandana Rao, Director of Water Policy for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs...

There is certainly still a risk, because this although this is a temporary event, some of the inherent dryness is still there, but any of these precip events help pull the fire danger down, because it's adding moisture to the brush, adding moisture to any vegetation that's on the ground. It's also making the soil a little more damp, so the fires don't... a lot of times, these fires tend to burn into the soil and deep and tend to be there for a while. So, this rainfall certainly helps. It has probably helped sort of a status quo, stabilized some of those conditions and not make them get worse. But there are still, I think several fires still around the Commonwealth.

Now, how about looking ahead? Can you make a prediction, if you will, about perhaps groundwater conditions, or, I'm thinking of drinking water wells and reservoirs next spring, based on what we're seeing this fall with such dry weather? What's it going to take over the winter to ensure that we don't have a dry spring as well?

That's a good question. You know, this is a time when, typically, a lot of recharge happens because there's not much vegetation to take up the water, so it tends to recharge in, you know, into the ground and into our reservoirs, but with hardly any rain over the last three months, all of those reserves have started to deplete, including our groundwater. So we're seeing low to quite low groundwater in many parts of the state. So these types of events that we just saw, and hopefully we'll get in the next week or so, we're looking for that to start to replenish a little bit of the groundwater. But you know, it all depends on what kind of precipitation and snowfall we get for the rest of the winter. I mean, our spring flows are quite dependent on what's happening in the winter, how much snow we get, because as that slowly starts to melt, that starts to replenish our streams and groundwater. And if the groundwater is depleted, even if we get some of these events, short burst events of rainfall, and the stream flow for a temporary amount of time can go up, it's not sustained if the groundwater is low. So, it's hard to predict. We don't have a crystal ball for the next few months, but this is something that we're certainly keeping a close track on and developing our own understanding of our hydrological systems as we start to experience these changes that are different from how they were in the past.

Now, how about steps that residents can do to help conserve water? Are residents being asked at this time to take any steps to ensure that conditions aren't made worse?

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, every single action and step to cut back our water use helps. And this is something that's important, not just for those of us who may be on a public water supply system, but equally, or maybe even more important, for those of us who are on a private well. We're all pulling from the same groundwater. It's just different straws that are dipping into the same bowl of water. So, you taking steps to minimize your water use by decreasing the time you take for your showers, by making sure your water is not running when you're shaving or brushing, by making sure that you use your dishwasher and washing machine only when there's a full load, which is when it's most efficient, if you have a dishwasher at home, use that rather than hand washing your dishes. And then, probably more significant, is any leaks that you may have in your home. You know, that pesky toilet leak that frustrates you all the time, or, you know, a faucet that may be dripping. It seems like a small amount, but it does add up, not just in terms of gallons, but also to your pocketbook, if you're paying a water bill every month. So, address it now. Address it as soon as you can, because that will make sure that, cumulatively, if made all of us do it, then we make sure there's enough water supply, not just for ourselves to make it through the winter, but for any other fire protection needs, which, as we've seen in recent months, have been very high, and we need to make sure we keep our supplies for conditions like that.

Has your office received any reports from municipal water supplies or perhaps customers who have seen a change in their quality of drinking water, either brown or discolored water due to low drinking water levels?

No, none of yet. We have not heard any such reports from anyone, but we do ask the public, if you're starting to see some of these types of impacts, please let us know we have a. Drought impact reporter website, where people can go online and let us know what kind of impact they're seeing. And it can be a personal impact to their water supply in their home or what's coming from their tap, but it could also be an impact to the natural environment, like a lake or a pond or stream that you typically go by and you always see some water there and it's completely dry. Let us know. I mean, this is our way of cataloging what we're experiencing and to get a better sense of where these are occurring and if and how we can we can help in any way.