Living in New England, we are used to erratic weather but this year’s fall drought, wildfires and red flag warnings have taken many of us by surprise. Last week, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs declared most of Massachusetts to be in a drought, with Western, Connecticut River Valley and Southeast Massachusetts in a Level 2 Significant drought and Central and Northern Massachusetts in a Level 3 Critical Drought. We typically think of the summer months as our drier season but this is the first significant drought we have seen since August 2022.
What does this mean for South Shore residents?
The drought severity levels are determined by the State’s Drought Management Task Force and are based on six different indicators, including precipitation, streamflow, groundwater, lakes and impoundments, fire danger, and evapotranspiration.
For those of us in a Level 2 drought, the State recommends limiting outdoor watering to hand-held hoses or watering cans only, and for all watering to occur either before 9am or after 5pm. Cities and towns are not required to follow these recommendations which often leads to a patchwork approach, where one Town restricts water while its neighbor does not. This is not an effective solution to providing relief to our shared stressed water resources.
Over the last few months, NSRWA has advocated for the passage of a Drought Bill that would require all cities and towns to follow the State’s guidance. While the Drought Bill did not pass during the most recent legislative session, we are not giving up. Stay tuned for future opportunities to help advocate for more effective drought management across the state.
What does this mean for the environment?
This is the time of year when juvenile fish swim from their spawning grounds in our rivers and streams to the ocean. Droughts impact streamflows and if there is not enough water moving through those rivers and streams, the juveniles will have no chance of making it to the ocean where they would eventually mature and repopulate. In fact, in the Jones River which had a banner year this spring for incoming herring, the juveniles are now stuck in Silver Lake due to the City of Brockton’s use of that lake as a drinking water supply and no plan for streamflow release to allow the fish to complete their life cycle. The small river herring population that remains in the First Herring Brook in Scituate suffers from a similar outmigration challenge when there are droughts and the water supplier is reluctant to release any streamflow.
With below average rainfall and exceptionally dry conditions, we have also seen an increase in wildfires across the state. We are used to encouraging people to conserve water to maintain adequate supply for people and fish, but saving water in order to prevent wildfires is a relatively new concept in this area. As our climate changes, so will the impacts to our natural environment and we need to be prepared for almost anything.
What can you do?
Help us document the impacts droughts have on our already stressed resources and send us your pictures of low water levels and dry streambeds. Photos can be submitted to our NSRWA Drought Monitoring Project. The photos will be provided to the state for use in understanding the conditions in our region.
