A dog has fun running through a water sprinkler in Jan Nowak Jezioranski Square as the heat wave continues. Krakow, Poland, August 2, 2018. (Photo by Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
BETHESDA, Maryland (FOX 5 DC) – Despite heavy rains late last week, residents of Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia continue to be asked to conserve water.
“The situation is so serious that we really need to encourage residents in the region to think about how they can use their water more wisely,” Lisa Ragain, chief water resource planner at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG), told FOX 5 on Monday.
At the end of July, the MWCOG issued a regional drought warning affecting nearly six million residents.
The warning is due to unusually dry conditions, and while last week’s rain was a welcome sight, Ragain said the region will need more of it over a longer period of time.
“In the short term, the rain has certainly helped and everyone’s garden will be happier,” she explained, “but we are still looking a few months into the future and that’s why we remain in drought watch.”
For now, the MWCOG is asking people to voluntarily limit lawn watering, avoid washing cars, take short showers and more.
Ragain said she believes the drought warning will last until September.
The good news, she added, is that there is still an adequate water supply in the Potomac and in the replacement reservoirs.
Drought warning issued for DMV
A drought warning has been issued for the DMV as hot and dry weather continues throughout the region.
