Overview
- The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Drought Coordination Committee declared a regional drought watch on June 3 that covers about six million residents in the District, suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia.
- Record‑high temperatures in March and April helped push the Potomac to its lowest measured flows for the season in about 130 years and recent heavy rains have not meaningfully eased levels.
- DC Water and regional officials are urging immediate household and outdoor conservation with tips such as shortening showers, fixing leaks, running full laundry and dish loads, and limiting landscape watering.
- Officials warn the region is heavily dependent on the Potomac for roughly 80% of its supply and say stored reserves are adequate now but could become insufficient if dry conditions persist, raising the prospect of voluntary restrictions or mandatory limits under a drought emergency.
- Longer‑term resilience work such as DC Water’s Pure Water DC reuse plan is cited as a future solution while the area’s prior nearly yearlong drought watch that ended last June highlights the risk of multi‑season strain on supplies and possible impacts on landscaping, businesses and water‑intensive services.