This one began in May and may spread to the whole state by fall.
The state’s last drought management working group meeting was in 2016, when drought came on more slowly than this year’s, but ended up lasting longer and being more severe.
In the 2016 drought, state water well program manager Abby Fopiano says dozens of private wells ran dry.
Still, officials want people to try to conserve water.
They say it’s affecting some farmers’ summer growing season and fall planting schedule, forcing some hydroelectric dams to shut down, and causing record low flows in some streams.
Whole towns and cities could follow suit.
At Thursday’s meeting, officials from cities like Portsmouth, Manchester and Concord said they’re seeing very high water demand this year, but recent rains have put their water supplies in good shape for now State water conservation manager Stacey Herbold says years of repeated drought may feel routine, but that’s no reason to be wasteful.
“People are hearing the message more often, and the hope is that people will be more careful about how much they’re using,” Herbold says.
State scientists say overall, climate change should make the Northeast wetter, not drier.
But they say the region’s patchy groundwater supplies are more at risk from a short-term lack of rain than larger, deeper aquifers in the West.