Claremont
St. Pierre said two facts have recently come to light that convinced the DPW to consider restrictions.
“The Sugar River, where we get 29 percent of our water, is moving at 16 (cubic) feet per second, the second lowest in 88 years,” St. Pierre said.
By comparison, at the height of the October 2005 flood the river’s gauge measured nearly 10,000 cubic feet per second.
St. Pierre said the depth at the intake pipe, which is just above the dam at the Puksta Bridge on Broad Street, is only 16 inches.
A board was added to the spillway to raise the depth at the intake pipe.
The second piece of information came from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.
“NOAA’s seasonal outlook depicts an ongoing drought through December 31, 2016,” St. Pierre said.
The city’s main reservoir, White, normally has about 140 million gallons and is now below 100 million, St. Pierre said. White is fed by a 4.2 square mile watershed but most of the runoff has gone dry.
“White Water Brook is almost at a zero flow,” St. Pierre said.
The city’s other two reservoirs, Rice, 35 million gallons, and Dole, 40 million gallons, mostly serve to take overflow from White Reservoir or as storage for water pumped from the river, St. Pierre said.
The city processes about 1.2 million gallons of water a day for the system’s 3,600 users, of which 3,200 are residential.
St. Pierre said his hope is that restrictions could reduce usage by the percentage now being taken from the Sugar River.
“My concern is if the Sugar River goes to zero (flow),” St. Pierre said. “Everybody I have spoken to at the state said this is the worst it has ever been. The flow at the Exeter River is down to zero.”
St. Pierre said throughout the summer Claremont’s water supply remain strong and most saw the drought problems as happening somewhere else.
“Now it is hitting home,” he said.
If imposed, the DPW will explain the items included in the restrictions and other suggestions to reduce water use.
In Charlestown, Town Administrator Dave Edkins said their public water is supplied by three wells and while one is “pretty much shot” a new well recently dug is “doing remarkably well.”
“We are not looking at water restrictions,” Edkins said.
Newport has already imposed mandatory restrictions because its main source of water, Gilman Pond in Unity is getting low.
Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.
