Tropical Storm Debby brought welcome rain to Virginia, and now drought advisories have been lifted in 76 counties and cities in Virginia, according to the Department of Environmental Quality and the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to lift the drought warning in the Shenandoah region or the drought watch in the Big Sandy region.
A drought warning advisory indicates a significant drought is imminent and remains in effect for the Shenandoah region, which includes Augusta, Rockingham, Shenandoah, Frederick, Page, Warren and Clarke counties.
A drought watch advisory is intended to help Virginians prepare for a potential drought and is in effect for the Big Sandy region, which includes Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, Smyth, Tazewell, Washington and Wise counties.
Some portions of the Commonwealth received more than eight inches of rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby, and storage at major water supply reservoirs have recovered and are within normal ranges.
Streamflow has shown improvements across the majority of the Commonwealth due to recent precipitation, although streamflows remain below the 25th percentile in portions of the Big Sandy drought evaluation region.
Groundwater levels for monitoring wells in the Climate Response Network remain below normal and require additional rain to recover.
While recent rains resulted in widespread slight improvements compared to the past 30-day period, eight of the 13 regions remain currently below the 25th percentile, with the Big Sandy, Shenandoah and York-James regions below the 5th percentile.
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.
Drought watch or warning advisories have been lifted for the following regions:
- Eastern Shore: Accomack and Northampton counties
- Middle James: Albemarle, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, Nelson, Powhatan and Prince Edward counties and the cities of Charlottesville, Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Lynchburg and Petersburg.
- New River: Bland, Carroll, Floyd, Giles, Grayson, Montgomery, Pulaski and Wythe counties
- Northern Coastal Plain: Caroline, Essex, Gloucester, King George, King William, King and Queen, Lancaster, Mathews, Middlesex, Northumberland, Richmond and Westmoreland counties
- Northern Piedmont: Culpeper, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Orange, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania and Stafford counties
- Northern Virginia: Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun and Prince William counties
- Roanoke River: Bedford, Campbell, Charlotte, Franklin, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Patrick, Pittsylvania and Roanoke counties
- Upper James: Craig, Alleghany, Bath, Botetourt, Highland and Rockbridge counties
- York-James: Charles City, Hampton, James City, New Kent, Newport News and York counties
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Crystal Graham
