As Connecticut’s drought worsens, officials again urge water conservation

NEW HAVEN >> Connecticut officials are again imploring residents to cut back their water usage as the state’s drought situation took a turn for the worse.

The U.S. Drought Monitor said this week that all of Greater New Haven is in a “severe drought,” a significant step up from the moderate drought the state had been mired in for several months.

October is typically one of the state’s sunnier months, according to WTNH News 8 Chief Meteorologist Gil Simmons, which means the region likely won’t get the rain it needs to start closing its worrying deficits.

“We’re going into a dry time of year,” Simmons said in an interview this week. “I can’t see it getting a lot better in a hurry.”

Some water providers, such as the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority, say their reservoir levels remain above drought levels in spite of the dry conditions.

But Simmons said the worsening drought could be problematic for people who depend on groundwater.

“People on wells really need to take it seriously,” he said.

One thing that could help: Tropical weather systems and storms, such as Hermine, the storm that swept toward Connecticut recently, prompting some initial worries.

“You don’t want it but those can deliver a lot of rain,” Simmons said.

Simmons said towns in Connecticut are running rainfall deficits of 8 to 15 inches dating back to June 2015. Those figures add up to more than just numbers on a page; Simmons says the consequences will be visible, like a swampy area along Route 81 in Killingworth that is now completely dry.

Agricultural businesses in the state also have suffered as a result of the drought and the Associated Press recently reported that federal officials declared farmers and ranchers in certain parts of Connecticut and are eligible for aid due to a drought affecting the region.

Low water flows and warm temperatures forced the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to extend its fishing closure for part of the Housatonic River in Cornwall. People who violate the closure face a fine of $154.

Cooler water enters the Housatonic near its confluence with Furnace Brook. That area is a refuge for trout and other cold water fish species from the warmer waters on other parts of Housatonic.

Signs are going up to show where the closure is in effect. Water within 100 feet of the signs is off-limits through Sept. 29.

“Extending the closure period there will protect these fish from any additional stress during the unusually hot and dry conditions that are still being experienced,” said Peter Aarrestad, the director of DEEP’s Inland Fisheries Division.

Aquarion Water Co. late Friday issued a mandatory ban on use of outdoor watering devices for customers in Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan and Darien.

Hose watering is allowed in those towns “for the time being,” the company said in a press release. The ban, which went into effect immediately, covers devices such as irrigation systems, sprinklers and soaker hoses.

“We are telling our customers to turn off their irrigation systems and sprinklers for the season,” Aquarion President and CEO Charles V. Firlotte said in the release. “We are doing this to ensure that we have an adequate water supply for everyday use and fire protection.”

Aquarion also serves Derby, Seymour, Shelton and Litchfield County. Customers had been asked to voluntarily scale back their water use but the company said there hadn’t been any decrease.

In issuing the ban for the four Fairfield County towns, the company cited below average rainfall and “extremely high” water demand and said water levels in its reservoirs are continuing to decline.

The South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority, which serves Greater New Haven, said last week that its supply has not reached low enough levels to get to the first stage of drought alert. That would not occur until the reservoirs are at 58 percent capacity, according to the agency. However, Edward Norris, vice president of asset management for the RWA, said “We ask people to be careful with their water use. We’re in a heavy drought and that’s expected to continue.”

The Connecticut Interagency Drought Workgroup has also been monitoring the situation carefully and reiterated this week its call for conservation, which it had originally put out in late June.

“Everybody’s concerned about it,” said Chris McClure, a spokesman for the state Office of Policy and Management, in an interview. “We need to stretch our water supply as best as we can. If we continue to decline, we have to go to a drought watch.”

The workgroup is made up of officials from OPM as well as the state Departments of Agriculture, Public Health, DEEP and Emergency Services and Public Protection.

At a June 27 meeting, the group issued a drought advisory, the first step in the state’s Drought Preparedness and Response Plan.

At that stage, the agencies work together to raise public awareness about the situation and set a voluntary reduction goal of 10 percent for all residents and organizations on public and private water supplies.

That includes urging residents and businesses to cut back on unnecessary water use, such as lawn watering and car washing. The agencies also work with water companies to make repairs to reservoirs and dams and suspend local exercises that require fire hydrants to be flushed.

And they continue to collect data about precipitation, ground water levels, streamflows, reservoir levels, crop moisture, fire danger and the Palmer Drought Severity Index, an estimate of relative dryness.

In a Sept. 8 assessment, officials were most concerned about crop moisture, groundwater, streamflows, the fire danger level and Palmer index, McClure said.

Drought advisories were previously declared in 2002, 2007 and 2010. The June declaration was the first of Gov. Dannel Malloy’s term.

The next phase in the drought response plan is to declare a drought watch. That would increase the voluntary reduction goal to 15 percent. Local governments would be asked to cut back where they can to hit a similar 15 percent goal.

It also calls for the workgroup to “target heavy water users and evaluate mechanisms for water use reduction.”

Since the workgroup was formed in the 1980s, Connecticut has never taken that next step. But if the data about the state’s rain and moisture situation gets worse, officials might not have a choice but to issue a watch.

“There’s a certain awareness of it,” McClure said. “It’s something that everyone in the workgroup, OPM and the governor are keeping an eye on.”