June well water readings drop not concerning to official
Despite numbers released for June showing a “strong drop in well values from the previous month,” well heights “compare favorably to the normal median height” for the month, according to the Water Advisory Committee.
“We are actually pushing 15 percent over the median for June,” according to numbers provided by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) and crunched by committee member Greg Toner. Nonetheless, he advised Islanders and visitor to maintain voluntary water conservation measures.
That’s because the summer months see a large increase in population on Shelter Island, resulting in greater water usage, at least through Labor Day weekend.
Nine of the town’s 13 test wells sampled by the USGS were over the June median levels with the Big 4 primary wells — Manhansett, Manwaring, Congdon and Goat Hill, all in the Center — at 64 percent, he said. Until May readings, all four were below median levels. But they began the turnaround with the May readings and continued to improve with the June readings.
Similarly, the ranking of monthly well heights by percentile of their historic values continued to be above the 50 percent mark despite a drop from the May readings.
Mr. Toner speculated that the drop was a function of the relatively high readings that occurred in May.
In May, both the National Integrated Drought Information System and the Northeast Regional Climate Center had lifted drought condition warnings for the area.
