Is the drought over yet?

Northwest Corner water experts were divided last week over whether the drought has ended here. 

The only way to truly know, said Denny Jacobs, who is chairman of the Falls Village/Town of Canaan Water Commission, is to ask well drillers what they’re seeing as they work on wells in the area. 

Rick Stone of Cornwall noted that there is still a drought nationwide, with dry pockets along the East Coast. 

The height of the Housatonic River feels like it should be an indicator of well health in the area but in fact it is not, local experts said. The water in the river has nothing to do with what’s happening in the aquifers that lie under area towns. 

For the record, however, the river reached a peak on Tuesday, Sept. 19, when the water rose to 5.5 feet (flood stage is 7 feet). The water height is slightly distorted, however, by the fact that power plant owner First Light is doing repair work on the canal.

In terms of actual drought (which is not, as noted, related to the height or pace of the river) a useful resource is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). 

NCEI keeps track of national drought levels. According to their map online, as of Aug. 30, there is no drought in Connecticut but there are pockets of drought in New York state and coastal Massachusetts. 

The detailed drought report on the Northeast (at www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/drought/201808#NRCC) notes that this was the 11th wettest August on record for the Northeast, although Vermont and Maine were drier than normal. Northern New York state was also very dry in early August. With those three states skewing the average, the NCEI reported that, through the summer, 18 percent of the Northeast had “abnormal dryness” and 10 percent had moderate drought. By late August, 13 percent of the region was “abnormally dry” and 7 percent was “experiencing moderate drought.”

This was also the second hottest summer on record, with an average temperature of 71.5 degrees.