CT Sets Water Usage Reduction Rate for Homes, Businesses to Ease Drought

Connecticut officials are recommending residents and businesses voluntarily reduce their water consumption by 10 percent in an effort to help ease the state's drought conditions, the Connecticut Interagency Drought Workgroup announced this week.

"This summer has been one of the hottest and driest on record in Connecticut, with only 75 percent of normal precipitation during the past three months," said Connecticut Office of Policy and Management spokesperson Chris McClure in a statement.

"This follows a dry spring and a winter with little snowpack, which led to the issuance of a Drought Advisory in June. As a result, stream flows and groundwater levels in many locations are at or near record low levels. The pattern of diminished precipitation continues and the impacts have been amplified by record breaking temperatures. While residents should not be alarmed, they should be mindful of their water consumption and take sensible steps to stretch our water supplies and reduce impacts on other water uses and on the environment."

A number of water companies throughout the state have requested voluntary or mandatory water conservation from their customers; a list of those water companies can be found on the Department of Public Health’s webpage. Except for the systems that have reported to DPH, water levels in Connecticut’s larger reservoirs and water systems remain stable at this time, with DPH continuing to monitor the situation.

The voluntary 10 percent reduction is consistent with the mitigation actions specified in the Connecticut Drought Preparedness and Response Plan for a Drought Advisory. Residents and businesses served by public water suppliers should follow any such advice or requests from their public water supplier, as conditions will vary among suppliers. Residents and businesses that use private wells should conserve water to reduce the potential stress on their wells, neighboring wells and on the environment.

A Drought Advisory is the first of four stages of drought defined in the Connecticut Drought Response and Preparedness Plan. A decision to issue a Drought Advisory is based on an assessment of indicator data monitored by state and federal agencies, including precipitation, surface waters, groundwater, reservoirs, soil moisture, vegetation, and fire danger conditions.

Drought Advisories were previously declared in 2002, 2007 and 2010. Connecticut has never exceeded the Drought Advisory stage since the formation of the State Interagency Drought Workgroup in the 1980s. Low flows and high water temperatures in the Farmington River forced the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to temporarily close portions of the river to fishing for the first time. Furthermore, much of the state remains in agricultural drought. Areas of Rhode Island and Massachusetts, however, are experiencing much greater drought impacts and the Interagency Drought Workgroup will continue to monitor conditions in Connecticut and provide updates.

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