If Virginia appears to be on fire, it is not your imagination.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued a State of Emergency declaration for the Commonwealth last week after two wildfires breached containment lines.
Virginia has been near drought conditions since early summer. Apparently, we did not get enough snow last winter and then not enough rain this spring and summer.
Basically, the Commonwealth is a day late and several dollars short of being hydrated.
In early September, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality issued a drought warning for the Shenandoah region, including the city of Staunton. At the time, the city’s drinking sources were still in good shape, but the city encouraged residents to voluntarily reduce water usage until water levels return to normal.
Water levels have not returned to normal yet. In fact, they have worsened and now Virginia is in its fire season with Augusta County issuing a 60-day ban on outdoor fires and Staunton under a citywide burn ban until further notice.
While a community news reporter in Fredericksburg in 2007, I wrote a story about a conservation group called Livable Neighborhoods. And I read Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring.”
And I became an environmentalist conserving water, paper, food. Waste not, want not.
As a Staunton resident, I thought voluntarily reducing water use would be easy for me in September. I already conserve my water usage, right?
I learned that I could even more so reduce my usage. I don’t need to turn the water faucet full on to wet my toothbrush. That cup of water I drank throughout the day that still has a few ounces in it can be used to water my houseplant the next morning. I don’t have to wait until the water in the shower is really warm before jumping in.
We can all do our part in the coming months to conserve water. Because, trust me, you don’t want water conservation forced on you and your household in the form of short showers and buying drinking water.
And we all can avoid outdoor burning and campfires until the situation improves. Because, this is the Commonwealth, not California, right? We don’t need rampant wildfires scorching the Shenandoah Valley, Richmond, the Southwest and northern Virginia.
Related stories:
Drought warning: City of Staunton asks residents to reduce water usage – Augusta Free Press
Burn ban: Open burning prohibited in Augusta County for next 60 days – Augusta Free Press
Blue Ridge Parkway bans backcountry campfires due to increased fire risk – Augusta Free Press
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Rebecca Barnabi
