Delaware
Delaware still in drought despite heavy rainfall
Delaware issues statewide drought watch
Delaware under drought watch after nine months of low rain; residents urged to conserve water; burn ban through Sept. 30.
- Delaware is still in a drought, despite heavy rainfall in New Castle County since July 1.
- The Brandywine and Christina Rivers are recovering.
- Kent and Sussex Counties are in “extreme drought.”
Some parts of Delaware saw about 4 inches of rainfall over the past few days, but the state could still be in a drought.
Delaware issued a statewide drought watch in June, and has not lifted it as of July 12. According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, most of Kent and Sussex Counties are in an extreme drought as of July 9, with New Castle County in a wetter moderate or severe drought.
According to the drought monitor, historic impacts of extreme drought can cause crop loss and financial stress in the agriculture industry.
Rainfall totals from the past five days throughout Delaware are concentrated in northern New Castle County, which is not as drought stricken as downstate. A rainfall total map from July 7 to 12 shows 4 to 5 inches in Hockessin, and 3 inches around Wilmington and Claymont. The same map shows an inch or less throughout Kent and Sussex Counties.
Director of the Delaware Water Resources Center Gerald Kauffman said the recent rain in New Castle County has helped stream flows. The Brandywine River has seen 4 inches of rain so far this month, he said, and salt levels in the Christina River have declined to near normal levels.
“After a brutally hot Fourth of July holiday, the 4 inches of rain since the first of the month in the Brandywine River watershed for instance has forestalled the worsening of Delaware’s drought watch,” he said July 12.
Before that heat wave, Kauffman said groundwater levels were lower than normal. Kent and Sussex Counties rely on groundwater for most of their water supply.
But the rainfall could’ve been more useful. National Weather Service meteorologist Ray Martin said if the rain in northern Delaware fell over a longer period of time it would’ve been more helpful to stream and groundwater recharge. But the rainfall was good for reservoirs, which are critical to northern Delaware’s water supply.
“It’s not going to quickly end the situation,” he said.
Temperatures are expected to hit the high 90s again this week, and heat indices could reach the triple digits. Kauffman said he and other figures in state agencies are meeting July 14 to look at the drought’s status statewide ahead of the next heat wave.