Earlier this spring, New Hampshire saw 15 straight weekends of rain. That seems like a distant mirage these days.
As of this week, almost 90% of the state is in a moderate drought.
That’s a stark contrast to just a couple of months ago, when most of the state was three or four inches above normal for precipitation, said Ted Diers, assistant director of the water division at New Hampshire’s Department of Environmental Services.
“Now, parts of the state are three or four inches below normal for the year,” he said. “That's a pretty dramatic change in a pretty short period of time. And you see that now across surface waters, groundwater, soil conditions, all of that are reflective of heading into a significant drought.”
And as climate change makes summers hotter and rain events more intense and spread out, New Hampshire may see even more drought conditions. It’s hard to attribute any particular weather event to climate change, but Diers says the state has seen more droughts in the past 30 or so years than in the 30 years before that.
With spring and the beginning of summer so rainy, a drought coming on this quickly is unusual, Diers said. But with low snowfall last winter and an early ice-out, melting snow didn’t have as much of a chance to replenish aquifers.
“Things were already kind of rough going into summer,” he said.
Diers says the state has received reports of wells running dry. Some towns have instituted outdoor watering bans. And river levels across the state are very low.
“We're seeing some of the lowest measurements in history on some of our rivers for this time of year,” he said. “That’s hard on the fish.”
It’s also hard on people — especially those who work on the water.
Marty Parichand owns Outdoor New England in Franklin, which offers trips on three local rivers. Right now, the company is pivoting to tubing and slow-moving kayaking instead of their most popular trips: whitewater rafting through a stretch of the Winnipesaukee River.
“When it gets to levels like we have today, it's almost impossible to paddle down that stretch,” he said. “In many different spots, you could walk across the river.”
The swings between heavy rain and very dry conditions can be hard for an outdoors business, Parichand said. With more unpredictability, backup plans -- like ramping up tubing trips — are a necessity.
On the Saco River, one of Bob Tagliaferri’s businesses, Saco Bound, has seen dryer conditions too. Paddling trips on that river are taking about 25% longer than they usually do, he said.
“It's typical for the Saco River to be dry as we get into late August or late summer,” he said. “But it's even below the average right now because we haven't got any substantial precipitation in quite a long time.”
He says his team is warning people that they may have to drag their boats. But visitors still seem to have a good time.
“It's still an enjoyable excursion,” he said.
The dry conditions have also increased wildfire risk. This week, there have been fires across eastern New Hampshire, from the North Country down through the Seacoast.
State fire safety officials are urging people to take precaution before doing any outside burning and to check in with their local fire department.
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