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Connecticut's United Voice for River Conservation

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(Page updated Fri Jan 25, 2008)

Drought Advisory Issued Oct 5, 2007

Republican-American article, CT Drought Preparedness and Response Plan,  Hartford Courant article, National Drought Mitigation Center CT links, State of CT - Drought Response

High Flow                          Low Flow	Not    Ranked
Streamflow in CT (click to go to the data page)

We include here a summary of information received from various groups on the drought. If you send additional information to Rivers Alliance, we will post it within a week or two. The messages are in reverse chronological order.

1/18/08: Norwich Public Utilities announced that the drought emergency had passed. Its reservoirs had recovered from a low of 56 percent full (in mid-December) to an acceptable 70 percent full. Looking ahead statewide, water suppliers are hoping for a year of above normal precipitation to mitigate the stress of the recent drought.

1/18/2008: The Norwich Day published (see also http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=b8a11ff7-576b-455c-aedd-e2afb81daff8 ):

Norwich Public Utilities announced today that the water emergency activated in November has been eased, with Norwich reservoirs back at an acceptable level.

"As of early this week, Norwich reservoirs exceeded the 70 percent threshold," NPU General Manager, John Bilda said in a press release. "On behalf of Norwich Public Utilities, I extend my thanks to local residents and businesses for the conservation efforts exhibited throughout our city during the water emergency."

At the drought's worst point around mid-December, Norwich reservoirs were only 56.11 percent full, NPU officials said. Norwich Public Utilities’ water supply data reflects the combination of increased precipitation and conservation efforts in alleviating the supply shortage.

For more information on how to save water, contact Norwich Public Utilities at (860) 887-2555 or visit www.norwichpublicutilities.com.

Jan 15: The US Drought Monitor showed that CT conditions have returned to normal. See below for a chart from the archives of that site that shows what percentage of CT was labeled with drought conditions.

1/3/2008: Cattle Network reported:

Precipitation occurred across the Northeast D0 area (this designation refers to the federal governments drought measuring system), but amounts were generally an inch or less and not sufficient to erase longer-term deficits.  D0 remained across parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, reflecting lingering hydrological impacts. 

12/20/2007: Cattle Network reported:

A continued favorable storm track through the region brought some relief to the drought areas.  In New England, the D1 was removed from Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, leaving a small area of D0 behind.  This area is still showing lingering hydrological impacts, but the recent precipitation has allowed for the improvements. 

November 14: Message from Mary Keane on the Pequonnock Valley.

Did get to Pequonnock Valley yesterday to check water level for you. The river was low, but still running and the wetlands seemed amazingly full. The banks of the trail ... showed evidence of drought with mosses turning brown and the absence of the usual water seeping from rocks along the trail that irrigated them. We were impressed by how many people there were along the trail on a chilly day. It is really being used to bike and walk. ... The golden trees were overarching the trail and other walkers commented on the beauty.

The following message was sent by Denise Savageau, Conservation Director for Greenwich, on November 5th.  Her contact information is:  Phone:  203-622-6461, email denise.savageau@greenwichct.org She is passing along information to town officials and for posting from David Medd at Aquarion Water Company.

I received the following email from Dave Medd at Aquarion today, November 5.

"Today's Reservoir readings for the Greenwich System was:     27.77% 888.58 MG"

Unfortunately, Hurricane Noel tracked too far east for us to get any significant rain which we desperately need.

This means we have now fallen below the drought management plan trigger level to issue a drought advisory.   This calls for asking for voluntary conservation, stepping up the PR, and preparing for mandatory restrictions.

Dave is calling a  meeting with all the towns serviced by the "Greenwich System" as the plan calls for to review the plan.  This will be held November 14. The First Selectman and I will represent the Town at  these meetings and then, if needed, we will follow-up with a town water supply team meeting.

Trigger levels for Phase I mandatory restrictions is 25% - 800 MG.   If we get to that level, we will need to call a Board of Selectmen meeting to place on the mandatory restrictions.

The weather forecast is saying showers but we have not noted anything significant predicted in terms of precip.   Water usage is down and, with the turn to colder weather, will probably stay down.   Because we usually experience droughty conditions in the summer months, most mandatory restrictions speak to outdoor water use.  At this time of year, we will be stressing indoor water use/conservation.

Statewide Forest Fire danger is rated as low for today but we should watch this situation carefully.  Especially as it relates to our surface supplies and dry hydrants.  I am concerned that this continued drought will impact groundwater and keep streamflows low.  Gauges in Katonah are showing streamflows below normal for this time of year.  Because rainfall has been very local and spotty, gauges are varying greatly across the region.  This will be further impacted if we start to see ice on the smaller ponds which will further limit the water available to us.

Let me know if you have any questions or have anything to add to this.

Denise
 

Ed Edelson, Executive Director of the Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition, wrote the following report to his board. We received it Oct. 13, and provide excerpts.

Prior to last Thursday (October 4), we had taken several steps to alert the public including adding information to our web site on the situation, informed our Board at the September board meeting, sent e-mail to all PRWC members and had written a well-received Letter to the Editor in late September. On Thursday, we decided to be more aggressive and initiated some direct discussions with stakeholders:

1. The Watertown Fire District, which supplies water from Pomperaug aquifer to Watertown, agreed to release water from their reservoir to supplement baseflow streamflow. According to our contact at USGS, this is the first time he has ever heard of a water utility volunteering to release water to help with streamflow - currently at .5 MGD. I did not even know this was a possibility until we started talking. Kudos to Watertown Fire District.

2. The United Water Company (Woodbury) suggested a Letter to Editor and paid advertisement encouraging conservation. ... They saw the benefit of saying something positive about helping the environment. Kudos to UW.

3. O&G, which operates a quarry here, has 3 large ponds adjacent to the river. We are in discussions with them on how these ponds can be used to supplement streamflow. At this point, it is not clear how this can be done readily (infrastructure is just not there with pumps and pipes), but they are thinking this would be a good capability to have for the future. However, on Friday afternoon, they indicated that ... one of the natural outlets was blocked and that this could be fixed to allow more streamflow. Kudos to O&G for their positive response.

Clark Bowlen, who lives on the Connecticut River, sent us this email on Oct. 11.

We live on the bank of the CT river just below the I91 bridge in E. Windsor. The river varies a little .. but at its lowest level, it's as low or lower than we've seen it in our 12 years here.

Message from Mary Rickel Pelletier, Park River Watershed Revitalization Initiative in collaboration with the Farmington River Watershed Association. Sent October 8.

The drought advisory is posted on our website: www.parkriver.org,  http://www.parkriver.org/x/testpages/news.html

The following anecdotal info about the drought is from Steve Sorrow, a member of the Connecticut River Watershed Council in Suffield. It was sent in by CRWC River Steward Megan Hearne on Oct. 5.

[This] is the lowest in the 54 yrs I have been here in Suffield. With no rain this week, you and all who live by the river should come to Canal Road in Suffield this Sunday afternoon. If U walk or ride your bike the three miles to the railroad bridge you will see the river as very few people have ever seen it. If you wear old clothes and old boots U will be able to walk across to Kings Island or all the way across the river and not get your shirt wet. Please bring a good rope to tie U and friends together. 3 adults on a 50' rope. It will have slippery spots because algae grow well in the warm shallow nitrogen rich water of the "Bars". The Enfield Rapids are made by ten ridges of red shale that cross the river at a 45 degree angle. The ridges are most of the time under water causing turbulence in the water flow. The bars have colorful names given to them by the early settlers. Surf Bar and Mad Toms Bar etc. Sunday U will see several very clearly. I am sending a copy of this E-mail to my favorite Hartford Courant reporter because the low water deserves a five day spread of what is going on that any one younger than forty has never seen. ... Because the Canal is at a good level the otters beavers and turtles are not endangered, and the eagles are having a fishing extravaganza.

Here are links showing extreme lows, deadly for fish, in two rivers. Sent in on Oct. 5.

The following is for the Pomperaug River watershed:  http://www.pomperaug.org/Fall2007RiverCondition.htm

Here is a link to a blog and records on the Eightmile River , including a real live ACTOGRAM!  http://eightmileriver.org/news/?p=31

The following email was sent by Denise Savageau, Conservation Director, Town of Greenwich to Doug Glowacki at the DEP on Oct. 1. It underscore the difficulty of coordinating a drought response.

Wondering if the drought team is paying attention to the current situation out there and if there is any coordination with municipalities on this. At this time Bristol has asked for voluntary restrictions, as a result of a Project WET workshop in Woodbury. I am aware of some well problems, and here in Greenwich, we are watching our trigger levels for our drought management plan with Aquarion very closely. Since we have folks both on wells and on public supply, we will probably be putting out an educational piece on the low levels and remind folks to conserve. Especially since this also involves dry hydrants and fire- fighting capabilities in the back country where there is not public supply. Is the state doing anything similar?

 

 

Drought Monitor Archive Table from http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/dmtabs_archive.htm

D0 Abnormally Dry

D1 Drought - Moderate

D2 Drought - Severe

D3 Drought - Extreme

D4 Drought - Exceptional

Week	None	D0	D1	D2	D3	D4
01/22/08	100.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
01/15/08	100.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
01/08/08	46.65	53.35	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
01/01/08	46.65	53.35	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
12/25/07	46.65	53.35	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
12/18/07	46.65	53.35	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
12/11/07	29.09	70.91	54.09	0.00	0.00	0.00
12/04/07	29.09	70.91	54.09	0.00	0.00	0.00
11/27/07	29.09	70.91	54.09	0.00	0.00	0.00
11/20/07	29.09	70.91	54.09	0.00	0.00	0.00
11/13/07	29.09	70.91	54.09	0.00	0.00	0.00
11/06/07	29.09	70.91	54.09	0.00	0.00	0.00
10/30/07	29.09	70.91	54.09	0.00	0.00	0.00
10/23/07	9.89	90.11	76.10	0.00	0.00	0.00
10/16/07	9.89	90.11	76.10	0.00	0.00	0.00
10/09/07	6.18	93.82	76.10	0.00	0.00	0.00
10/02/07	13.85	86.16	54.49	0.00	0.00	0.00
09/25/07	13.85	86.16	54.49	0.00	0.00	0.00
09/18/07	22.11	77.89	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
09/11/07	26.21	73.79	0.89	0.00	0.00	0.00
09/04/07	26.21	73.79	0.89	0.00	0.00	0.00
08/28/07	78.16	21.84	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
08/21/07	100.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00

 

 

Rivers Alliance of Connecticut PO Box 1797 7 West Street, 3rd Floor Litchfield, CT 06759 860-361-9349 rivers@riversalliance.org www.riversalliance.org