Region’s water supply nearly recovered from drought

Wet weather in January and March, even with a dry February sandwiched in between, has raised reservoir levels to near full capacity in some areas of southeastern Connecticut, enabling public water companies to lift water-use restrictions imposed in the summer through the fall.

“At the beginning of February we went back over 80 percent in our reservoirs,” Chris Riley, spokesman for Norwich Public Utilities, said Tuesday, noting reservoirs were at 66 percent of capacity in mid-January. “As of Friday, our reservoirs are at 98.22 percent of capacity, which is significant progress.”

In late summer and fall, NPU had asked customers to curtail water use, just after a mandatory ban on outdoor watering was imposed for customers of Aquarion Water Co. in Mystic and Stonington. Both water companies have since lifted the restrictions. East Lyme, which supplies water to town residents from large production wells rather than reservoirs, also had voluntary use restrictions over the summer that have since been dropped.

While well and reservoir levels have risen throughout the region due to snow and rainfall mainly in January and March, New London and Windham counties remain under the “drought advisory” status the state declared last June. The rest of the state, however, has received less precipitation and is under the more severe “drought watch” status, said Chris McClure, spokesman for the state’s Interagency Drought Workgroup. Under a “drought advisory,” residents are asked to voluntarily reduce water use by 10 percent.

“We had a good, productive January, February was less than anticipated and March is staying just ahead of normal,” he said. “We’ve been chipping away at the existing drought conditions.”

The working group, comprising representatives of the state Office of Policy and Management and the departments of Public Health and Energy and Environmental Protection, will reassess conditions at the end of April and determine whether to maintain the drought advisory and drought watch, he said.

Statewide, capacity of reservoirs averaged about 86 percent of normal as of mid-February, according to the most recent figures from the state health department. The network of reservoirs maintained by Groton Utilities was at 99.9 percent of capacity at the end of February, according to health department figures, while the reservoirs that serve customers in New London and Waterford that are maintained by the city’s Public Utilities Department were at 70.45 percent. Neither system imposed water-use restrictions last summer or fall.

The reservoir that serves about 8,800 customers in Mystic and Stonington have risen to 100 percent of capacity, said Peter Fazekas, spokesman for Aquarion Water Co.

“That reservoir depletes quickly and fills quickly,” he said.

The company’s reservoirs in Fairfield County, however, still are well below normal levels, meaning water emergencies and restrictions imposed there last year remain in effect, he said.

The Mystic-Stonington reservoir, Fazekas added, fell as low as 56 percent of capacity in August. Even

though it has recovered, he said, the situation needs to be monitored continuously.

“It dropped quickly,” he said. “We will be keeping a very close eye on all our systems.”

In East Lyme, production wells are now at about 90 percent of their normal levels for this time of year, said Brad Kargl, municipal utility engineer for the town. The town pumps about 2 million gallons per day from the wells, he said.

“Groundwater levels have recovered, but we’re going to continue to watch it,” he said. “We haven’t gotten all the recharge we’d like.”