By Frank D. Roylance , Sun reporter|May 14, 2008
The creeks are full, the fields are soggy, and the drought that had Maryland farmers and water managers so worried late last year is finally behind us.
"Certainly in Maryland, there's no drought left," said Mike Halpert, deputy director of the National Climate Prediction Center in Camp Springs. "It's hard to get 8 inches of rain and still have drought."
Improved rainfall in recent months has nearly filled Baltimore's three reservoirs. Farmers in Southern Maryland, where the dry conditions lingered longest, are happy. Or they will be, as soon as they can get back into their muddy fields for planting.
"Right now, we're in pretty good shape," said Buddy Hance, a Calvert County farmer and state deputy secretary of agriculture. "It's OK."
It's a far cry from October, when five months of dry weather had left most of the state with a deep and growing rainfall deficit. Streams and water tables had fallen all summer, and crops had wilted. More than 87 percent of the state was rated in at least moderate drought by Oct. 23, with two-thirds experiencing severe drought.
Gov. Martin O'Malley applied for and won a federal drought disaster declaration for Maryland. He also issued a drought watch for 15 counties in Eastern and Central Maryland, where residents were urged to conserve water wherever they could.
In December, public works officials in Baltimore reported that the city's three reservoirs had dropped to 64 percent of capacity. That was not an immediate worry, but it would have been if the dry weather had persisted into 2008, as some forecasts had suggested it would.
Susquehanna pipeline
The city decided to conserve what was still on hand and turned to the Susquehanna River to supplement water supplies for its 1.8 million water consumers.
But precipitation over the winter began to recharge the reservoirs, soils and water tables. By last week, only 22 percent of the state - mostly on the Lower Eastern Shore - remained in drought.
By the first week in March, the city's reservoirs had recovered to nearly 82 percent of capacity, so the pipeline from the Susquehanna was shut down. And heavy rains since Friday have slashed the long-term deficit at BWI Marshall Airport to less than 4 inches. Since Jan. 1 at BWI, the region has a 3.5-inch surplus.
Yesterday, Kurt L. Kocher, spokesman for the Baltimore Department of Public Works, said Loch Raven Reservoir was full for the first time since June. Prettyboy Reservoir was 97 percent full, and Liberty was at 95 percent.
