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ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Alexandria remains under a state drought warning after the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, in a June 25 update, continued the existing advisory covering most of the commonwealth, citing persistently low groundwater and streamflow levels despite recent rain.
The update keeps in place the warning status — the level signaling that a significant drought event is imminent — that has covered Alexandria and nearly all of Virginia for months. State officials said recent rainfall of about 0.5 to 2 inches over the past two weeks prevented conditions from worsening but was not enough to ease the drought.
For Alexandria residents, the practical message is conservation, not restriction. The mandatory water-conservation measures DEQ noted — now in place at 29 community water systems — are in Caroline, Fauquier, Louisa, Powhatan and Shenandoah counties, not in Alexandria. Gov. Abigail Spanberger is encouraging Virginians to conserve water voluntarily.
What the data shows in Northern Virginia
DEQ's drought dashboard shows a split picture for Northern Virginia, which the agency lists at warning status. The region's drinking-water sources are holding up: surface water flow at the area's monitored gage was at the 78th percentile and rated normal as of June 25, and the Occoquan Reservoir and Lake Manassas were both at normal levels.
Groundwater is another matter. Of four Northern Virginia monitoring wells, three were at emergency-level lows — at or near the bottom percentile for this time of year — and the fourth was at watch status, according to dashboard readings for the week ending June 25. Year-to-date precipitation in the region stood at about 76 percent of normal.
The regional readings track with the statewide picture DEQ described in its June 25 update. Across Virginia, groundwater levels in 19 of the state's 24 monitoring wells are below the 10th percentile for this time of year, and the agency said a prolonged period of additional rainfall will be needed to recover. Statewide precipitation is about 8.5 inches below normal for the water year that began Oct. 1.
Most reservoirs across the commonwealth are within normal ranges; the exceptions are Smith Mountain Lake, at warning status, and the John Kerr Reservoir, at watch status — both well outside the Alexandria area.
Without sustained above-normal rainfall, DEQ warned, the drought is likely to worsen as summer heat increases evaporation, and some localities could be upgraded from warning to emergency status, which can trigger mandatory restrictions.
The regional layer
The state warning overlaps with a separate regional drought watch that the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments issued in early June, covering Alexandria and nearly six million residents across the District, suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia. That watch — the second of four stages in the regional plan — urges voluntary conservation and sits below the warning and emergency stages, which the region has never reached since the plan was adopted in 2000.
Alexandria's drinking water comes primarily from the Potomac River, which supplies about 78 percent of the region's supply. The Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin has said the river and backup reservoirs hold an adequate supply for now and that regional infrastructure is well-equipped to handle the drought, even as the Potomac fell earlier this year to its lowest level in 130 years of records.
Ryan Belmore
The week ahead
Rain is in the near-term forecast, but likely not enough to change the picture. The National Weather Service expects scattered showers and thunderstorms across the region through the weekend, with most periods bringing only a tenth to a quarter inch of rain — far short of what would ease a year-long deficit. The weather service is also flagging a significant heat risk for the second half of next week, with highs near 97 to 101 from Wednesday through Friday and heat index values that could reach 105 to 110 — the kind of heat DEQ said would deepen the drought by increasing evaporation. The weather service also warned that thunderstorms Friday afternoon and evening could produce locally damaging wind gusts.
How to conserve
Officials have recommended simple steps indoors and out. Indoors: keeping showers short, turning off the tap while brushing teeth, running only full loads of dishes and laundry, and fixing leaks. Outdoors: watering lawns and plants sparingly, sweeping rather than hosing pavement, and skipping car washing or using a commercial wash that recycles water.
DEQ said it will continue to provide updates every two weeks for the duration of the drought. More information is available on DEQ's drought dashboard and on COG's Wise Water Use pages.
