BOSTON (WHDH) - A severe drought has been affecting communities all across the state, with some cities and towns forced to implement water bans.
Annie Pires brings her dog Juniper to Millennium Park in West Roxbury for a swim every couple of weeks, but the drought has left the Charles River looking more like a puddle.
“I was really surprised. I’ve definitely never seen it this low,” said Pires. “My dog walked right across, so she couldn’t even really swim.”
The boat launch at the park is currently around 10 feet from the water’s edge.
“Definitely concerning that you know it’s been so long without rain. Drought is really bad for the environment,” said Pires.
Scituate is one of the towns implementing a Tier 4 water ban which means no outdoor water use including:
- No watering lawns and flowers
- No filling swimming pools
- No washing cars and boats
Residents could be charged a hefty $300 fine if caught violating the water ban rules.
“We have issued over 75 fines since our first water ban went into effect,” said Scituate Town Administrator James Boudreau. “We will now be even more aggressive in fining people.”
“There’s no lawn, it’s brown,” said Scituate resident Gretchen Mirarchi with a laugh.
She said she’s willing to “roll with it” until enough rain comes to end the water ban.
The only reservoir in Weymouth has had water levels drop four feet since last April. They, like Scituate, are also asking residents to cut down their water usage by shortening showers and washing only full loads of laundry.
“We just haven’t had a lot of rain, and we have to protect our water supply going forward,” said Boudreau.
The drought has led to several brush fires across Massachusetts this week, with crews in Gloucester struggling to contain a smoldering brush fire after it burned for hours on Monday. A model rocket launch also torched a Topsfield park.
“It’s dry up there,” one Gloucester resident told 7NEWS. “There’s a lot of fuel for this fire.”
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