WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - The City of Worcester is working to save water as New England grapples with drought.
City Manager Edward Augustus is urging local residents to curb their water consumption following a dry summer. He said the city might have to implement restrictions if it can’t reduce its demand for water or if the drought grows worse.
City reservoirs are at 64% capacity, Augustus told The Worcester Telegram & Gazette. The local watershed is seven inches below average levels.
Large parts of Northeast now face extreme drought conditions, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported Thursday.
Almost all of New Hampshire and more than 80% of Massachusetts and Maine are currently experiencing severe drought, according to the monitor, which is a collaboration between the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The dry conditions across the Northeast have resulted in water restrictions in some communities, bans on outdoor burns, damage to crops, a spike in forest fires, fish kills and dry fields for farmers.
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