Vermont's Summer Drought Lingers Private Wells Dry Up; Addison Farmers Escape Serious Effects

Author: Anne DeWitt Local News Editor

The year 2001 has been one of the driest in Vermont's history, and the lack of water is causing problems for farmers and homeowners.

The last drought began during the fall of 1998 and continued into the summer of 1999. The current drought started in the spring and has lasted through the fall, which according to state climatologist Leslie-Ann Dupigny-Giroux means that Vermont's farmers suffered from the dry weather less than they did during 1998.

Material on Dupigny-Giroux's Web site says that the onset of this drought was much more rapid than the 1998 drought, a fact that is leading climatologists to consider the idea of a flash drought.

Dupigny-Giroux describes three stages of drought progression. The first is meteorological: rainfall amounts are less than usual. The second is agricultural: the upper part of the soil dries out. The third is hydrological: wells, cisterns and water reservoirs run low.

Droughts occur when a high pressure system settles in over a region, causing storm systems to move out. During the 1998 drought, the pressure system diverted rain to the north of the state. This year the Champlain Valley received rain while the area east of the Green Mountains suffered. Dupigny-Giroux emphasizes that the drought "was and is statewide," though she acknowledged that certain pockets have been more affected than others.

As evidence, she cites research on streams which she conducted during the third and fourth weeks of November. She studied the water levels in streams throughout Vermont and found that across the state they were at less than 10 percent of their usual levels.

That number has improved to between 25 and 75 percent after the rains of last week, which Dupigny-Giroux speculates may be a "trend towards recovery," although she also says that current rainfall predictions do not look promising. Prior to last week the Northeast Kingdom needed 6.78 inches of rain; that number should be modified somewhat now.

Dupigny-Giroux cannot assign a specific cause to the drought, saying that it probably resulted from a combination of activities in Bermuda, the tropics and the Hudson Bay. She says that we may be heading into another El Niño pattern, when a shift in the jet stream affects climate worldwide.

"What little rain we got, we got in times of critical need," said Craig Miner, executive director of the Farm Service Agency (FSA) for Addison County. "As an average across the county, Addison County did significantly better" than the rest of the state, said Miner. He acknowledged that certain pockets in the Addison and Bridport areas did not receive much rain. However, overall, the corn crop was quite strong, rainfall came during such important moments as the formation of ears. A similar effect meant that the apple crop escaped as well.

The drought did not touch the early hay crop of most county farmers either. Miner called the first and second cuttings "productive," but said that the September cutting suffered. Unfortunately, the first cuttings of grass and legumes tend to be less valuable, as these early crops grow rapidly and contain less protein and fewer nutrients. This means that farmers may have to purchase feed this winter — a significant financial drain.

It seems as though the drought has impacted homeowners the most severely. Gale Parmelee, a Brandon resident who operates a water hauling business, estimates that during the past few months he has been visiting eight homes a week, mostly in Addison County. A normal rate for this time of year is two homes a week. Parmelee hauls water from Brandon, Vergennes and the Danforth well in Middlebury to individual homes whose wells or cisterns have dried up.

Middlebury Town Planner Fred Dunnington said that the town of Middlebury has not suffered from the drought, thanks to the Danforth well which he calls, "one of the most productive in the state." Acquifer levels in general are not affected by low rainfall levels.

Other muncipalities have faced concerns about water levels, said Dupigny-Giroux. She cited Hinesburg as one example. She confirmed that the rainfall patterns have been such that homeowners are currently feeling the impact more than farmers.