Despite the recent rain in the D.C. region, the flow of the Potomac River is so low that local water suppliers are beginning to monitor for a drought.<\/p>\n
Despite the recent torrential rain and flash flooding in portions of the D.C. region, the flow of the Potomac River is so low that local water suppliers are beginning to monitor for a drought.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the rain, the accumulations occurred in the eastern portion of the (Potomac River) basin that\u2019s downstream from the intakes for the D.C. water suppliers,\u201d said Michael Nardolilli, executive director of the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin. \u201cA lot of places got a lot of rain, so gardens are going to pop back to life, but our focus is on the drinking water supply for the Washington, D.C. area.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe real question is: where did the rain fall? We need it to fall in the western part of the basin, which is upstream from the intakes for the D.C. area water suppliers,\u201d Nardolilli said. The three local water suppliers are WSSC Water, the Washington Aqueduct and Fairfax Water.<\/p>\n
Daily drought monitoring begins when the flow at the U.S. Geological Survey\u2019s stream gauge at Point of Rocks, Maryland, falls below 2,000 cubic feet per second.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe river is very low and it has been low \u2014 right now it\u2019s at 1,720 cubic feet per second,\u201d Nardolilli said. \u201cWe don\u2019t think it\u2019s a problem with the gauge. We think it\u2019s a problem with the river.\u201d<\/p>\n
To illustrate, Nardolilli said the median for the date of Aug. 3, over 130 years of data collection, is 2,760 cubic feet per second: \u201cWe\u2019re basically 1,000 cubic feet per second of the median for that date.\u201d<\/p>\n
While heavy rain is expected to continue this week, Nardolilli doesn\u2019t think it will be enough to cause the cessation of the daily drought monitoring.<\/p>\n
\u201cSummertime is a traditional low part of the river flow, and we\u2019re going into the fall, which really is the lowest part,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re pleased we\u2019ve had so much rain, but it didn\u2019t do much to dent the drought from our perspective, looking at drinking water supply.\u201d<\/p>\n