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Pysher: All August well water levels are trending down

JULIE LANE PHOTO Water Advisory Committee member Ken Pysher announces the Dering Harbor well water quantity level is the lowest on record for the month of August.
JULIE LANE PHOTO
Water Advisory Committee member Ken Pysher announces the Dering Harbor well water quantity level is the lowest on record for the month of August.

During a summer when warnings have abounded about drought conditions and forest fire dangers, it comes as no surprise that all Shelter Island test wells, where measurements of water quantity are taken monthly, show decreases for August.

The Dering Harbor test well hit a new August low, nearly 12 inches below its August average.The information was released by Water Advisory Committee member Ken Pysher who receives figures given by the United States Geological Survey.

On the good news side, Mr. Pysher reported that despite the lower August readings, all wells except for Dering Harbor, were above their lowest August levels.

The range of loss is from 1.27 percent recorded at the Brander/Lilliput Lane well to 14.83 percent recorded at the Manhansett well, north of Cobbetts Lane.

He noted that while many of the test wells have been measured since 1974, the Dering Harbor test well has only five years of recorded data.

Conclusion? “We need some rain,” Mr. Pysher said.

The forecast for a strong El Nino effect could be positive for the drought-like conditions, Councilman Paul Shepherd said. But he noted that while there is a correlation between that occurrence and wet weather, it’s not necessarily “direct or proportional.”

El Nino conditions generally shorten the hurricane season, but that’s not always the case, according to AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski.

Some years, El Nino conditions bring the Atlantic hurricane season to a sharp halt by late September, but others persist through October.

El Nino conditions generally bring more mild winters to much of the country, according to Weather Network meteorologist Dr. Doug Gillham.

But while December and January predictions are for a calmer winter, that doesn’t necessarily carry forward to February, he said.

All of this amounts to “stay tuned” from the forecasters.

Whether El Nino or any other weather force intrudes, Islanders annually see a drop in water usage after Labor Day, when  summer residents and visitors depart, and the population drops from a high of between 15,000 to 20,000 people to about 2,000.

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