Dry conditions bring back Drought Task Force
The Maine Emergency Management Agency has reformed its Drought Task Force for the first time in 14 years to address below-normal groundwater levels in southern and central Maine that have some farmers in the state worried.
MEMA Director Bruce Fitzgerald told the Maine Public Broadcasting Network that although it’s the first time since 2002 that the task force has been brought together, current conditions aren’t as worrisome as that year.
“We’re dry right now, but we’re not that dry,” Fitzgerald told MPBN. “It sounds like the lack of snow this winter — we had a very low snow winter — and in southern Maine at least, the snow melted early and so our groundwater has not had [a] chance to recharge.”
Fitzgerald added that the State Department of Agriculture has heard from farmers who are concerned about crops and irrigation, with a few reporting their wells are running dry, according to MPBN.
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