A drought watch advisory is now in place for 50 counties and 23 cities in Virginia due to a lack of precipitation. The watch includes Augusta, Rockingham and Shenandoah counties as well as the cities of Harrisonburg, Lexington, Staunton, Waynesboro and Winchester.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, in coordination with the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force, is working with local governments, public 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.
The task force found continued below normal or declines in streamflow and groundwater levels throughout northern, central and south-central regions of the state.
The forecast for the next week suggests limited precipitation east of the Blue Ridge Mountains (0.10 to 0.25”) with slightly higher, but still below normal, totals forecasted in western portions of the Commonwealth (0.25 to 0.5”).
Above normal temperatures are predicted over all the Commonwealth for the next two weeks.
Below normal water levels are present in Smith Mountain Lake and Switzer Lake with storage at all other major water supply reservoirs at normal levels.
Drought watch advisories in Virginia
- Shenandoah: Augusta, Clarke, Frederick, Page, Rockingham, Shenandoah, and Warren counties; and the cities of Buena Vista, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Staunton, Waynesboro and Winchester
- Middle James: Albemarle, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Buckingham, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico, Nelson, Powhatan, Prince Edward counties; and the cities of Charlottesville, Colonial Heights, Hopewell, Lynchburg, Petersburg and Richmond
- Northern Virginia: Arlington, Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, and Prince William counties; and the cities of Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas and Manassas Park
- Northern Piedmont: Culpeper, Greene, Louisa, Madison, Orange, Rappahannock, Spotsylvania, and Stafford counties and the city of Fredericksburg
- Roanoke River: Bedford, Campbell, Charlotte, Franklin, Patrick, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Pittsylvania, and Roanoke counties and the cities of Bedford, Martinsville, Salem, and Roanoke
- Upper James: Alleghany, Bath, Craig, Botetourt, Highland, and Rockbridge counties; and the city of Covington
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Crystal Graham
