RWSA declares area to be under ‘drought watch’

The Board of Directors of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority has issued a Drought Watch for the area. The move is the first step called for as part of a drought action plan adopted by the RWSA last September, and is being taken now because streams that fill the area's reservoirs are slowing at a rapid
pace.

Watch the video on YouTube below:

RWSA Director Tom Frederick

“Stream flows in our watershed are now 19 percent of seasonally adjusted normal levels," said Tom Frederick, the Executive Director of the RWSA. He and his staff have been watching levels drop over the course of the spring and summer, with rainfall amounts declining. "There have been some scattered thunderstorms, but they did not bring the widespread rains that contribute significantly to increase in streamflows."

Under a drought watch, members of the public are asked to conserve as much water as they can. The idea is to stretch the water supply for as long as possible if the area continues to be dry, and to get people planning now.

The lighter flows are not replenishing the reservoirs as water is pumped out for use by consumers in Charlottesville and Albemarle County.

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Stream flows on Mechums River near White Hall helped the RWSA make a drought watch declaration

As of the press conference, reservoirs are at 93 percent capacity and falling. The Ragged Mountain Reservoir is down 3.8 feet, and is holding steady because the RWSA is using the pipeline from the Sugar Hollow Reservoir as the source for the Observatory Hill water treatment plant. Sugar Hollow itself is down 1.6 feet, with one foot of that coming in the last five days, according to Frederick. He added that Sugar Hollow is now dropping at a rate of about two and half inches a day.

Frederick predicted that the South Fork Reservoir will stop spilling over sometime this week if there is no significant rainfall. The hydro-electric plant there has been turned off for several weeks because of low stream flow.

The National Weather Service's Climate Prediction Center lists our area as abnormally dry, and Frederick said the Center shows that for the fall and winter, Virginia could remain to be drier than normal. He said a good hurricane season could bring enough rain, but that can't be guaranteed.

"We feel that actions need to be taken proactively, sometimes assuming that the worst can happen," Frederick said. "We don't want to induce panic or alarm, but we do want to make sure we prudently use our water supply so that if nature has continued dry conditions ahead of us, that we position ourselves in the best way that we can possibly be towards the future."

There are no mandatory water restrictions under a Drought Watch, but City and County governments will begin asking their employees and residents to begin conserving. Shortly after the watch was declared, Albemarle County officials released a statement saying they will continue with measures implemented last year during a similar situation. Outdoor shrubs on county property will no longer will be watered, and neither will the green roof at the County Office Building on McIntire Road.

If there is not enough rain to recharge the aquifers that supply the streams that supply the reservoirs, the RWSA will consider moving to stage 2 - a drought warning. Under that stage, elected officials will be asked to consider mandatory restrictions. RWSA staff will continue monitoring levels in advance of the August 27 meeting of the RWSA board.

Scattered thunderstorms are forecast throughout this week, but Frederick said that likely won’t be enough to call off the drought watch.

“Generally, when it’s dry as it is right now, that’s not enough to significantly elevate stream flows, which is what we track when we determine how severe drought conditions.”

Sean Tubbs

Comments

[Blair Hawkins]

Sean, why didn't you include the board's vote on the drought watch proclamation in the video? Was the voting process unusual? Was it a voice vote, by acclamation? I thought you had a policy (on cvillepodcast.com) that you'd only accept complete coverage. That's why you excluded my podcast of Tom McCrystal's speech in 2005 at Forest Lakes, because my camera couldn't record all the speeches at the Republican rally. I hope you're less partisan over here at CvilleTomorrow.

From looking at the Rivanna website (rivanna.org), my first reaction is, why are there so many job openings? Why is everybody quitting from this agency? Do they know something we don't?

20% chance storage will fall below 75% in next 12 weeks. So does that mean 80% chance we will stay above the 2002 trigger for restrictions for at least 3 more months?

I guess grassroots pressure will have to build again to force Frederick to explain why he predicted mandatory conservation "in the coming weeks" but did not explain how this run-up is different from conditions that led to mandatory restrictions in the past, 2002 and 1977. Or why he's emphasizing the level of reservoirs as feet below full, when in 2002 it was 70% of total capacity (but 65% in '01 was just missed when reservoirs filled back up without rain so trigger was adjusted up for '02) and in 1977 it was days of supply remaining in each reservoir?

I've spoken well of Frederick, certainly an improvement over Larry Tropea and Cole Hendrix. Hendrix was the city manager in 1977 and water director in '02 but didn't tell anybody there had been a precedent for the '02 restrictions.

Frederick might have made a credible argument for his position if the agency hadn't cried wolf so often and each time pretend it's the first time. We must have lost a lot of storage capacity in the sedimentation of the wet '03, '04, '05 years. But no mention how 93% today compares to 93% 5 years ago and 93% 30 years ago.

Streamflow is new. And next time they want restrictions, it'll be a new metric. What's really going on here? Is it time for another shakeup at RWSA?

"Council approves Ragged Mountain option: Water for another 50 years", June 6, 2006. Includes RWSA report to Council on Feb 9, 2005. Timeline of South Rivanna reservoir.

Drought Watch: Lawn watering only at night, reservoirs full, half normal rainfall, June 19, 2006

"Drought Watch: here we go again", June 22

"Rivanna uncomfortable using Buck Mountain land for Ragged Mountain plan", November 2, 2006. The agency's signature eminent domain scandal.