Not a drought … yet: Voluntary water restrictions requested

The Water Advisory Board isn’t ready to ask the Town Board to declare drought conditions, but the Island is still at an official level of “abnormally dry.”

The WAC wants residents and visitors to the Island to know that test wells that are usually at 41% of capacity at this time of year remain stubbornly mired at 25%.

That’s despite the 3 to 4 inches of rain that fell at the end of April, but was followed by generally warm and dry days.

On the advice of Town Engineer Joe Finora, the WAC is calling on people to voluntarily put restrictions on their use of water to avoid facing a drought by the end of the summer.

With a typical population growth that swells to about five times the off-season level of about 2,400, the demand for water becomes critical.

Taking steps now and alerting visitors to the situation could make a difference in how Islanders fare by summer’s end.