Wareham's drought status lowered

Wareham is still in a drought, but it’s not as bad as before. 

Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper lowered the town’s drought level from “significant” to “mild” on Friday, Aug. 7. 

Even though the status has changed, the state still asks towns to enforce water usage restrictions. These include watering outside once per week between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. and reducing overall water usage.

Wareham still fared well during the more severe drought. As of July 13, the Wareham and Onset Water Departments said that the water levels in Wareham were not currently low, but still asked residents to follow the drought restrictions.

Wareham Water Department Superintendent Roy Maher told Wareham Week last month that the town has a “very robust aquifer” which helped keep the town’s water level high throughout the drought. 

All of the Southeast Region, which includes Plymouth County, was lowered to a Level 1 drought. Dukes County and the Western Region of the state are not in a drought anymore. The rest of the state is still in a Level 2 drought.

Tepper said in a statement that Massachusetts received between 4.5 and 9.5 inches of rainfall in July. These levels are above average for much of the state for the month of July. “The rain we’ve seen over the past several weeks is a welcome relief,” Tepper said in a statement.

The rain has helped replenish levels of water both in rivers and streams, and in soil. But the state has received less rainfall than average over the past two years, which has led to the current drought. It’s unclear what long-term effects the recent rainfall will have on water supplies.