The Connecticut Interagency Drought Workgroup has issued the state’s first-ever drought watch, and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy advised residents in six affected counties to limit unnecessary water usage where possible.
The drought watch, which involves reducing consumption by 15 percent, applies to Fairfield, Hartford, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, and Torrington counties.
While this is the state’s first drought watch, lower-level drought advisories were previously declared in 2002, 2007, 2010, and earlier this year. The drought watch is the second of four stages of drought defined in the state’s drought preparedness and response plan.
A previously announced advisory that went into effect statewide in June will remain for New London and Windham counties, where residents, businesses and local governments are asked to reduce usage by around 10 percent.
The workgroup consists of state officials from the departments of Public Health, Energy and Environmental Protection, Agriculture, Emergency Services and Public Protection, and the Office of Policy and Management.
Malloy asked residents and employers to ”be mindful of their water consumption and take sensible steps to help stretch our water supply.”
A drought watch means that the state is already experiencing moderate to severe drought conditions, based on data of precipitation, stream flows, groundwater levels, reservoirs status, soil moisture, vegetation, and fire danger conditions. This data is available to the public on the Interagency Drought Workgroup’s website.
Precipitation in Connecticut ranged from 60 percent to 73 percent of normal conditions between June and September. Drinking water reservoirs have continued to decline, and average levels statewide were at less than 80 percent of normal as of the end of September, with some reservoirs less than half full.
