Many parts of Virginia ended May with soaking rains after reports showed 80% of the state was experiencing “severe drought” conditions. While the rain that moved through much of the state helped ease some of the dryness, the drought remains.
“We realized about 2-5 inches of rain throughout the commonwealth,” said Weedon Cloe, who manages the Department of Environmental Quality’s Office of Water Supply. “And that went a long way to making some short term improvements in stream flow, and precipitation.”
The state is mostly classified under a “drought warning” by DEQ, but many regions spanning from Southside Virginia into the central part of the state remain in critical groundwater conditions.
This time of year, much of the rain gets caught up in the tree canopy and is absorbed by vegetation before it can reach the water table and replenish groundwater supplies. Cloe said officials did see areas where the water table had bottomed out and received some water recharge from recent rains.
The state experienced an overall dry winter, which left water tables lower than usual, and the dry spring hasn’t helped. DEQ reports that of the 24 groundwater monitoring wells, groundwater levels in 20 are still below the 10th percentile for this time of the year. The state is also about 7.5 inches short on precipitation for the water year that began in October, DEQ states.
“We are limping along,” Cloe said, describing conditions leading into the final weeks of spring before summer heat intensifies.
“I would still say it’s probably one of the driest springs, if not one of in recent history,” Cloe said. “There’s still (a) large swath of D3 (extreme) in the U.S. drought monitor punching up from the southside, up through the middle of the state.”
Despite the persistent dry conditions, drinking water reservoirs remain in good condition, Cloe said. If rainfall tapers off, as forecast in the short term, and temperatures rise significantly, agencies have procedures in place to restrict water use if necessary.
It will take more sustained rainfall to fully replenish the water table and make up for the long-term dry conditions the state has experienced.
For a drought warning, DEQ recommends minimizing nonessential water use and beginning voluntary water conservation efforts. The agency also encourages local governments to publicly share water conservation information, continue leak detection and repair programs, and impose mandatory water use restrictions when local water supply conditions warrant.