Drought causes town officals to institute water ban

Without any moisture in the foreseeable future, Ashburnham town officials have

asked residents to conserve water.

"We are asking residents to curtail water use," said Department of Public Works Director Don Ouellette.

According to Ouellette, the Naukeag Lake - which provides the water for those customers on the town's water system - is down a foot below the normal water level.

When it drops to this level, town officials take action.

Ouellette said looking ahead at the upcoming weather, there was only one day of rain in the forecast. Since the ban was instituted about two weeks ago, there has only been that one day of rain.

"We have had a drought since the beginning of August," said Ouellette.

The National Weather Service is also not predicting any substantial rain over the course of the next 10 days.

Signs popped up around town, and advertisements were placed in The Community Journal asking residents to conserve their water.

"If it lasts a month, it could be a problem," said Ouellette. "We need a good three to four days of rain to get it back up to the level we want."

During a water ban, outside watering is limited to odd and even days based on a person's house number.

- Karen Mann