The state agency charged with monitoring groundwater and public water supplies in Virginia has placed the entire Commonwealth under some form of advisory about potential drought.
On Monday, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality placed 12 counties under a drought warning and 95 cities and counties under drought watch.
“Precipitation deficits in combination with increased temperatures have resulted in rapid intensification of drought throughout the majority of the Commonwealth with substantial below-normal observations noted within the Northern Virginia and Shenandoah drought evaluation regions,” reads a press release sent out Monday.
The advisories are issued in part to tell people to begin to conserve water. These are the recommendations of the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force, a group that last met on June 20 and will meet again on July 1.
A “warning” means that drought is imminent and the northern stretch of counties in this designation includes Augusta County and other Shenandoah Valley localities heading north.
The rest of Virginia is on “drought watch” which is intended to tell people to conserve water to prolong supplies as long as possible in case conditions worsen. At the moment, conditions merit the entire state being put on notice.
“Stream flows throughout the Commonwealth are currently at or below the 25th percentile of normal values for all 13 drought evaluation regions,” the release continues. “Groundwater levels for monitoring wells in the Climate Response Network have shown continued declines within the northern, central, and eastern portions of the state.”
In addition to conserving water, this is also a time when the DEQ recommends property owners inspect pipes for leaks and make repairs to prevent waste.
The release states that public water supplies across the state are within normal range.
The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority reported Tursday morning that the South Rivanna and Totier Creek reservoirs are full and the pools at Ragged Mountain, Sugar Hollow, and Beaver Creek are all above 97 percent full.
More on the emerging drought watch in the next edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement.
Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment is from the June 25, 2024 edition of the newsletter. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.
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