SCITUATE, MASS. (WHDH) - Cities and towns across Massachusetts are dealing with severe drought, prompting many to implement water bans.
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 battling a new fire overnight after burning for hours on Monday.
“It’s dry up there,” one Gloucester resident told 7NEWS. “There’s a lot of fuel for this fire that’s the problem of fuel for this fire.”
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