Portsmouth Water Supply Status Report for November 2020
November 16, 2020
EXTREME DROUGHT CONDITIONS FOR SEACOAST AREA
As the graphics show, the Seacoast area of New Hampshire continues to be in an Extreme Drought. Recent rains in October helped to replenish the reservoir and groundwater a bit, however, as the graphic shows, we are almost ten inches below normal for the last twelve months, or 81 percent of normal. Currently, halfway through November we have received only an inch of rain. There has been a lot of weather activity and storms around us, they just haven’t come directly our way or amounted to a whole lot of precipitation. If substantial recovery from the drought does not occur prior to next summer’s irrigation season then water restrictions will likely be necessary.
City water operations staff continue to participate in the New Hampshire Drought Management Team meetings, the most recent one was held on November 5, 2020. Additional information and data can be accessed at the following NHDES website:
https://www.des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/dam/drought/index.htm
The State Department of Environmental Services has implemented the State’s Drought Management Plan to coordinate the State Drought Management Team of state, federal, regional and municipal agencies, including the Portsmouth DPW Water Division. Ongoing actions include: assessing reservoir impacts and adjusting operations, working with drinking water systems statewide and ensuring the public is informed of the impacts and conservation measures that should be employed now to avoid serious problems later in the summer. The City of Portsmouth’s Water/Stormwater Division encourages residents to “Think Blue” and consider some of these water-saving measures you can practice at home, including potentially replacing inefficient toilets and washing machines: www.cityofportsmouth.com/publicworks/water/water-efficiency-information
