Due to abundant winter precipitation over the last two weeks, the Department of Environmental Quality has lifted drought watch advisories for 28 localities in Virginia.
A drought watch advisory remains in the Eastern Shore, Northern Virginia and for portions of the Northern Coastal Plan and Shenandoah regions.
A drought watch advisory remains in effect for:
- Eastern Shore (Accomack and Northampton)
- Northern Virginia (Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William)
- Portions of the Northern Coastal Plain (King George, Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond and Westmoreland)
- Shenandoah (Clarke and Frederick counties)
Drought watch advisories have been lifted by the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force in:
- Portions of the Northern Coastal Plain: Caroline, Essex, Gloucester, King and Queen, King William, Mathews and Middlesex counties
- Portions of the Shenandoah: Augusta, Page, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren counties and the cities of Waynesboro, Staunton and Harrisonburg
- Southeast Virginia: Cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach and Isle of Wight County
- York-James: Charles City, James City, New Kent and York counties and the cities of Hampton, Newport News and Williamsburg
Factors for advisories
A drought watch advisory is intended to help Virginians prepare for a potential drought.
Several factors have contributed to the lifting of advisories as well as the maintenance of advisories in the affected regions.
The factors include:
- Widespread and heavy winter precipitation over the past 14 days has led to marked improvements in soil moisture and increases in streamflow across Virginia
- Stream flows throughout the Commonwealth have rebounded with all stream gages within the monitoring network currently indicating normal or above normal status
- Groundwater monitoring wells in the Climate Response Network are at normal levels or are starting to show recharge signals indicating recovery throughout most of the Commonwealth
- Storage volumes at major water supply reservoirs are well within normal ranges
- Pockets of low soil moisture and lingering groundwater deficits continue to be observed in the northern and northeastern portions of the state.
Conservation and drought response plans
DEQ is working with local governments, public water works and water users in the affected areas to ensure that conservation and drought response plans and ordinances are followed.
All Virginians are encouraged to protect water supplies by minimizing water use, monitoring drought conditions and detecting and repairing leaks.
See the current drought status online.
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Crystal Graham
