The entire state of Massachusetts is under some sort of drought status as of Monday morning, causing concerns over fire danger to rise.
Individual towns are now stepping up to try and help. In the Town of Scituate, for example, there is now a Tier 4 water ban in place. That means there’s a total ban on all nonessential outside water use.
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That total ban includes lawn irrigation, watering of flowers, filling pools and washing cars and boats. The water department is fining people as much as $300 a day for breaking these rules.
The Drought Management Task Force is set to meet Monday to discuss the severity of this drought.
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In task force's last meeting, a "Level 3-Critical Drought" was declared for the northeast and central parts of the state.
The southeast and Connecticut River Valley regions were set at a Level 2-Significant Drought status, and Cape Cod and the Berkshires were placed at a Level 1-Mild Drought.
Experts emphasize that water conservation is critical during conditions like these.
"There’s quite a bit of variability in the way that towns react to the drought in terms of outdoor water usage. I think trying to reduce watering of lawns and things like that is one of the biggest impacts that people could have.”
57% of Massachusetts is now considered to be in a "severe drought."
