Verona, VA – July 14, 2010
Today, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued a statewide drought watch. A drought watch is intended to increase awareness of climatic conditions that are likely to precede a significant drought event and to facilitate preparation for a drought. Despite recent rain in portions of the Commonwealth, the potential exists for drought impacts to intensify if hot, dry conditions redevelop. DEQ recommends planning for that possibility as Virginia heads into the statistically driest months of the year.
The Virginia Drought Assessment and Response Plan specifies four indicators that are used to evaluate the severity of a drought: precipitation deficits, stream flow, ground water levels and reservoir levels. Stream flows in all areas of the Commonwealth, with the exception of Northern Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley, are at levels that indicate a drought watch or more severe drought status. Ground water levels in western and south central Virginia indicate a drought watch status, and levels in much of the remainder of the state are close to drought watch status.
The primary factors contributing to the declaration of a statewide drought watch are:
• Approximately 86 percent of the Commonwealth is experiencing abnormally dry to moderate drought conditions as defined by the U.S. Drought Monitor.
• Most of Virginia has experienced below normal precipitation in the last 60 days, and some areas have received less than 50 percent of the average precipitation. Short-term weather forecasts do not indicate a high probability of widespread, significant precipitation events that will erase these deficits.
• The majority of stream monitoring locations across Virginia are recording stream flows below normal ranges (less than the 25th percentile). The portions of the state with the lowest flows are southeast and central Virginia, where stream flows are consistent with moderate to severe hydrologic drought conditions.
• Agricultural interests statewide are seeing impacts from the dry conditions. Impacts include poor hay harvests, poor grazing conditions resulting in the use of hay reserves, and indications of stress to crops including corn.
• Observations during the last few weeks indicate that wildfire occurrence, rates of spread and fire intensity are much greater than would normally be expected during this time of the year. Twenty Virginia localities had issued burning bans as of July 12.
• There are no widespread reports of drought conditions affecting public water supplies.
• Levels of large reservoirs such as Lake Moomaw, Smith Mountain Lake, Kerr Reservoir and Philpot Reservoir have been slowly declining since June.
Please see page 12 of our Customer Handbook at: http://www.acsawater.com/CustomerService/CustomerHandbook/ACSA_Handbook_pages.pdf for Conservation Tips you can use at home or in your business.
Information on H1N1 Flu and Drinking Water
Media across the country continue to issue warnings about a potential outbreak of H1N1 Flu in North America, along with tips with for individuals who might be traveling or think they might have come into contact with the flu virus. Much of this information also focuses on how to prevent the spread of the disease. With that in mind, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued a statement regarding transmission and drinking water:
"Tap water that has been treated by conventional disinfection processes does not likely pose a risk for transmission of influenza viruses. Current drinking water treatment regulations provide a high degree of protection from viruses. No research has been completed on the susceptibility of the novel H1N1 flu virus to conventional drinking water treatment processes. However, recent studies have demonstrated that free chlorine levels typically used in drinking water treatment are adequate to inactivate highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza. It is likely that other influenza viruses such as novel H1N1 would also be similarly inactivated by chlorination. To date, there have been no documented human cases of influenza caused by exposure to influenza-contaminated drinking water."
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