Drought Warning

Last night at City Council we received an update on the drought from Tom Frederick, the Executive Director of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority. News was not good. By the end of this week our reservoir levels will be below the levels when we declared the warning on August 21 (the thunderstorms the end of August gave us a temporary respite). We need some rain! So far the hurricane season storms have taken a very southern course, and Tom expressed concern that forecasts indicated the possibility of a drier than usual winter.

So for now:

• No car washing, except at car washes (which recycle their water)
• No watering in the yard, except using containers 3 gallons or less
• Restaurants to serve water only upon request
• No filling of pools or fountains
• No washing of buildings, pavement, etc except through businesses established for that purpose

Tom also gave us the current timetable on expanding our water supply. RWSA hopes that state and federal regulators will give preliminary approval to the plan by the end of the month, and seek public input, with final approval of our plan by the end of the year. Preliminary engineering has already begun on expanding the Ragged Mountain Dam.