Drought watch: Maryland environmental officials ask folks to conserve water

Maryland Department of Environment officials are urging a large part of the state, including Western Maryland, to voluntarily reduce water use because of a drought watch.

The drought watch, issued by the state, affects Western Maryland and most of Central Maryland, according to the state's June 30 drought status map.

This past May was the fourth-driest on record for the Hagerstown area, with 0.97 inches of rain, according to Hagerstown weather observer Greg Keefer's website at i4weather.net. Keefer's weather records date to 1898.

Mandatory water restrictions have not been issued, but with the drought watch, the state environment department "increases oversight of water supply conditions and encourages voluntary water conservation practices," according to a environmental department release issued Monday afternoon.

"You can do your part by limiting the use and duration of sprinklers for lawns, taking short showers as opposed to baths, and not leaving the faucet running while brushing your teeth. These things sound simple, but it all adds up," Environment Secretary Serena McIlwain said in the release.

As of July 4, the U.S. Drought Monitor shows most of Washington County being in a moderate drought, with the far western end of the county as well as Allegany and Garrett counties being abnormally dry. Parts of Frederick, Carroll, Baltimore, Montgomery, Prince George's, Anne Arundel and almost all of Howard County are listed as being in severe drought.

In Pennsylvania, Franklin County and part of Fulton County also are listed as being in a moderate drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor website.

What affect is the drought having so far?

The state currently has enough water to meet the needs of residents and businesses, according to the state environment news release.

However, the precipitation deficit is not expected to be significantly affected by the recent rain.

At least parts of the Hagerstown area received rain Sunday with Keefer's weather observation center getting just over half an inch of rain.

Jeff Semler, agriculture extension educator for the University of Maryland Extension Service in Washington County, said precipitation over the past four to six weeks has been "very erratic." He said he's heard from people in the area who received from half an inch to over 3 inches of rain on Sunday, but one storm alone won't break a drought.

The rain was enough to perk up the corn and even soybean plants a bit, but the ag community is a long way from being able to know the real impact of the drought, Semler said.

The community hasn't gotten near the hay yields expected at this point. However, wheat did well because the dryness — rather than humid and wet conditions — resulted in hardly any disease, he said. A fair amount of soft wheat is grown in the area, the type for cake and biscuit flour that goes to Pennsylvania flour mills.

"At this point in time, we're hanging in there," Semler said.

In an email, Hagerstown Utilities Director Nancy Hausrath said the environment department is planning to provide guidance to public water suppliers later this week.

Hagerstown supplies water for the greater Hagerstown area as well as some towns like Funkstown.

Mark Bradshaw, Washington County's director of environmental management, said he hasn't heard of any reductions in well productivity yet. The county's largest water system is for Sharpsburg, which is supplied by the Potomac River. Bradshaw said he hadn't seen any issues with that system. Even when the Potomac gets low, the intakes for the water supply are about 6 feet below the normal surface level, he said.

When could Washington County get rain?

Semler said, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, this is an El Nino year, so there should be more rain.

"We haven't gotten that yet," said Semler, noting he hopes it doesn't arrive in one day via a hurricane in the region.

National Weather Service meteorologist Chesnea Skeen, with the Baltimore/Washington forecast office, said we're only starting to get into the El Nino phase.

The forecast for the Washington County area is "pretty dry and warm with highs in the 90s" through Wednesday, Skeen said.

By Thursday and Friday, the chance of rain gets back up to about 40%, she said.

Sometimes the forecast for several days away looks like a good chance of rain is coming, but when that time arrives there's not as much rain, she said. Noting we're in a summer weather pattern, Skeen said it's hard to determine where a storm will track. There might be no rain in one town, while two towns over there is a thunderstorm, she said.

Water conservation tips

"Water conservation is a good practice year-round, but we are asking residents and businesses to pay particular attention during the summer months when the State can experience hot and dry conditions," McIlwain said in the release.

Some water conservation tips for residents, per the environment department, include:

• Only running the dishwasher when it's full.

• Use a dishpan or plug the sink when hand-washing dishes.

• Check toilets for leaks.

• Take shorter showers.

• Turn the water off when shaving or brushing teeth.

• Run full loads of laundry rather than many small loads.

• Use a broom rather than a hose to clean decks, sidewalks and other paved areas.

• Collect rainwater for reuse in garden.

The environment department also has water conservation tips for businesses. Among them is for restaurants to only serve customers water when requested.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Large part of Maryland under drought watch, including Hagerstown