<p>Following three straight months of little rain, Martha’s Vineyard remains under moderate to severe drought conditions along with most of the rest of the commonwealth.
Following three straight months of little rain, Martha’s Vineyard remains under moderate to severe drought conditions along with most of the rest of the commonwealth.
In an assessment issued Thursday, the U.S. Drought Monitor, a collaboration of government and university meteorologists, classified drought conditions on the Island as moderate. Meanwhile, the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center has classified the drought in southeastern Massachusetts, including Martha’s Vineyard, as severe.
Brown pastures at Allen Farm in Chilmark.
Brown pastures at Allen Farm in Chilmark.
Either way, weather watchers, farmers, municipal water managers and firefighters agree that it’s dry as toast out there. A spokesman for the state Division of Fire Services confirmed this week that the fire tower off Indian Hill in West Tisbury is being manned due to high fire risk across the Island.
And if forceasters are correct, there is no immediate relief in sight.
This summer continues a three-year period of below-average precipitation. Rainfall statistics tell part of the story.
In June, less than half an inch of rain fell on the Island, more than three inches under the 30-year average.
In July, rainfall was slightly above average. But without a substantial storm in the next several days, August will finish about three inches below normal.
Meteorologists estimate it would take 9 to 12 inches of rain to return to normal conditions. Among those who study climate and weather, there is an old maxim about droughts.
“Many droughts end with a flood,” said Ed Capone, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service River Forecast Centers, speaking to the Gazette this week. “That’s pretty true in a lot of parts of the country. In 1985, a big drought ended with Hurricane Gloria. If you want to get out of a drought you need a big system like that,” he said, adding: “We don’t need a hurricane, but we need the rain. The rain is on the west side of a hurricane so if we get one going just east of the Cape, everybody will be happy.”
Island agriculture has been affected. At North Tabor Farm in Chilmark, livestock is usually munching fresh pasture grass at this time of the year, but those fields are brown or bare now because of the dry weather, farm co-owner Rebecca Miller said. Ms. Miller said she has been buying supplemental hay to feed the animals.
Mill Brook runs low, but Island aquifer still healthy.
Mill Brook runs low, but Island aquifer still healthy.
All her vegetable and flower crops have needed extra irrigation this summer, but that is not an added expense because North Tabor Farm uses its own well water. Her wells remain at normal levels. But cucumber, squash and flower crops fared poorly in the dry weather. “Yield is down because of it,” Ms. Miller said. “We sell a lot of cut flowers, and our yields are way down. I think it’s just a result of it not raining. Even though they’re on drip irrigation, it’s not the same.” The National Weather Service Climate Prediction center also uses computer models to monitor soil moisture levels.
“Soil moisture was much drier than normal across much of the area,” a drought information statement issued by the weather service said this week. “The crop moisture index issued by the Climate Prediction Center on August 6 indicated that most of southern New England is abnormally dry.”
On Monday evening, Oak Bluffs firefighters responded to a fast-moving fire in the dunes behind Joseph A. Sylvia State Beach. An ember from illegal fireworks sparked the fire. Dry conditions fueled it.
“It definitely helped that the night before we got some rain, but even with the little bit of rain we got, that fire was still fast moving,” said Oak Bluffs fire chief John Rose. “We’ve had a string of brush fires. About three weeks ago we had three brush fires in one day, small fires, nothing we couldn’t handle quickly. The drought is definitely in the back of everybody’s mind.”
Island fire departments have mutual aid plans in place. In the case of a large fire in Oak Bluffs, the West Tisbury fire department would respond with brush breaker trucks. In the event of a large forest fire, personnel from Cape Cod and a firefighting air tanker based in Canada would respond.
Drought conditions affect water usage on the Island, especially among homeowners trying to keep their lawns green.
In Edgartown, water department superintendent Bill Chapman said the town pumped significantly more water in June and July than it did last year, which was also considered a dry summer.
In June the water plant pumped 62.2 million gallons of water, a 12.7 per cent increase over June 2015. In July the town pumped 76.4 million gallons, 6.4 per cent more than the same month last year.
Fire tower in West Tisbury now being manned.
Fire tower in West Tisbury now being manned.
Unlike other parts of the state, water levels on the Cape and Islands remain normal, according to the National Weather Service.
Mr. Chapman concurred. “The condition of our wells, that’s at a normal level, even with the adding pumping,” he said. “We’re not pulling our aquifer down. There’s no shortage.”
But extra water usage results in higher costs to the town for more anti-corrosion chemicals to treat the water, and for operating large electric motors that power pumps. Water department customers also pay more, because bills are based in part on the amount of water used.
Fire danger at the Manuel Correllus State Forest has been elevated for many days this summer and is now high, according to Dave Selino, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Division of Fire Services. The danger level is set based on several factors, including the dryness of ground vegetation, temperature, relative humidity, as well as wind strength and direction.
“The drought conditions have been long term enough that it has affected some of the vegetation on the ground,” Mr. Selino said. “We’ve seen grasses that have been killed off, the shrub layer is starting to get affected, canopies are thinning out.
When the fire danger in the state forest is high or extreme, the Division of Fire Services dispatches a person to the Island fire tower in West Tisbury. From 68 feet above the ground, smoke can be spotted at the beginning of a fire, giving firefighters a better chance to get in front of it.
“We operate that tower when conditions warrant it,” Mr. Selino said. “Those are the days where we could get quicker growth on a fire. The fire tower helps us.”
Weather forecasters offer little hope for rain in the near future. According to forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center, drought conditions are expected to continue on the Island at least through November.
Comments
A nice read but somewhat
Colin KA nice read but somewhat misleading as well. The topmost photo of "Brown pastures at the Allen Farm" appears on my computer screen to be a field that has been cut and not yet raked into windrows, as thus should by all means be drying and brown...
The drought is certainly here, but thank goodness for the spacing of the rain so far. Last year we saw no worthwhile rain until midAugust, while we had somewhat well-spaced and reasonably strong storms last month.
Yes, you are correct, that
Prudy Burt West TisburyYes, you are correct, that Allen Farm field was just cut in the last week or so. Likewise, the photo of conditions at Parsonage Pond is also a bit misleading- grasses and sedges have been steadily taking hold in this man made pond for at least the last four years, not just the last few months. Conditions here are due to the fact that, due to natural breeches in the man made canal which feeds this man made pond via a diversion dam on Mill Brook just south of Scotchman's Bridge Lane, no water has flowed to the pond in the last several years.
I believe the owners of this privately owned pond are investigating other options for maintaining water levels in this man made pond.
Did Edgartown really pump
David Tenenbaum Off-IslandDid Edgartown really pump this little water during a drought?
"In June the water plant pumped 62,286 gallons of water, a 12.7 per cent increase over June 2015. In July the town pumped 76,496 gallons, 6.4 per cent more than the same month last year."
That's not much water. USGS guesstimates, 80-100 gallons per person per day... at 100 gallons/day, E-town pumped enough water for 20 people for 1 month.
Thanks for catching that; the
EditorThanks for catching that; the number of gallons is actually in the millions, not thousands. The story has been corrected.
When I lived on the Vineyard
Christine Powers WalthamWhen I lived on the Vineyard in the 1970s and 1980s, I climbed the fire tower several times to take photographs. Once, when it was manned, we were invited into the headquarters at the top, a real privilege!
The water table in the well
william wilcoxThe water table in the well located in the State Forest was down about 0.8 feet in August from the historic average for the month over the 40 years I have been measuring. But the elevation recorded is over 1.5 feet above the lowest level reached in 2002. Generally the water table reaches its lowest point for the year in the fall so there is still time for the condition to worsen or begin the return to average.
Regardless of how severe the
Chas de Geofroy ChilmarkRegardless of how severe the drought I really wish all the folks moving here from the suburbs would give up on these highly watered and fertilized lawns. They are helping destroy our Coastal Ponds with harmful nutrients that along with failed septic systems are creating harmful blue-green algae blooms. Please grow a vineyard lawn, Thanks, Chas.
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