MDE says it’s due to continued dry conditions & below average rainfall.
Baltimore, Md (KM) The drought watch has been now upgraded to a drought warning across the state. That announcement was made on Thursday by the Maryland Department of the Environment. “There’s no immediate water shortage that we’re facing right now,”: says Lee Curry, the Director of the Water and Science Administration for MDE. “But over the past year, we have been seeing some low rainfall levels, well below average, that resulted in lower water levels in the streams, and in the groundwater. As a result of that, we’re placing most of the state in a warning condition for drought,”
The drought warning covers most of the state of Maryland, except for customers served by Baltimore City’s water system which is under normal conditions; and customers served by WSSC. which is under a drought watch set by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
MDE says groundwater levels remain below average, particularly in Carroll and Frederick Counties.
Curry notes that the recent rainfall, and the two snow storms in February were beneficial, but they did not break the drought., “If we look back to October, we’re about 30 percent below average. . If you look over the past year, we’re about 20 percent below average,” he says. “So what we’re seeing is not just one rain storm or rainfall event that we’re looking at, but we’re looking at multiple rainfall events that we’ve seen and experienced over the past year.”
Now that the state is under a drought warning, Curry says MDE is doing drought coordination. “It means that we reach out to the county drought coordinators. We start working with the water utilities and the water systems, looking at a pro-active approach, and planning if we continue with a drought, and what are the things we can do now so that there are not mandatory water restrictions in the future,” he says
Summer is the time of year for high water usage, and conservation efforts are needed to help meet any challenges in the months ahead, MDE says. “The more water we can conserve now–if we do end up with drier conditions—the better position it places us in the summer,” says Curry.
He says MDE has water conservation tips on its website, https://mde.maryland.gov.
By Kevin McManus