Voluntary Water Conservation Ask, Madison, As CT In Stage 2 Drought

MADISON, CT —No Connecticut town, city or county has escaped the caution. The entire state has officially entered a stage two drought, as defined by the Interagency Drought Workgroup. The culprit for drought conditions is lack of rain and high temperatures that have impacted the state's water supply.

In Madison, the town is asking residents and businesses to voluntarily take the following measures to aid in minimizing future drought impact:

- Reduce automatic outdoor irrigation
- Postpone the planting of any new lawns or vegetation
- Minimize overall water use by fixing leaky plumbing and fixtures
- Follow any additional conservation requests issued by water suppliers or municipalities

As reported by Patch, there are five drought stages in Connecticut's drought response plan, five being the most severe. Stage 2 is an emerging drought event, which potentially impact water supplies, agriculture and natural ecosystems.

Connecticut has entered the second stage five times in the past two decades in 2002, 2007, 2010, 2016 and 2020, according to the state Office of Policy and Management. Most recently, four counties entered stage 3 in 2020.

The Interagency Drought Workgroup is the entity responsible for actively monitoring water conditions and recommending drought declarations and mitigation actions to the Office of the Governor and state agency commissioners, under the authority of the WPC in accordance with the Connecticut Drought Preparedness and Response Plan.