The effect of a very dry autumn is beginning to show up in the region, notably with brush fires in Massachusetts and parts of southern New England, and while New Hampshire has been spared so far, little precipitation is on the horizon with temperatures expected to stay relatively high.

Concord has pumped some water from the Contoocook River into Penacook Lake, the city’s drinking water supply, for the first time in two years. The move is just a precaution, said Marco Philippon, the city’s water treatment superintendent. The lake looks low to passers-by but that’s not unusual.

“(The lake is) at the same exact level as we were at the same time in 2022. Historically we have been as much as 18 inches lower than we are currently,” Philippon wrote in an email response to a Monitor query.

There are no plans to institute any water-usage restrictions in the city because everybody has stopped outdoor irrigation as winter approaches. The city’s daily consumption of around 3.5 million gallons per day is normal for this time of year, Philippon said.

The problem is that it has been very dry: Between the start of September and Friday, Nov. 8, Concord saw less than half its normal rainfall – 3.8 inches compared to the 30-year average of 8.8 inches – and little of that has fallen lately.

Automated stream gauges around the state run by the U.S. Geological Survey show flow rates at near-record low levels for this time of year. On Nov. 11, for example, the Merrimack River in Franklin was running at 4% of its usual flow rate at this time of year while at Goffs Falls in Manchester it’s just 2% of normal flow rate. Hydropower production has also fallen sharply.

It’s not just central New Hampshire facing the problem since October was the driest month on record for many parts of the U.S.  The result is that although no drought of any kind was recorded throughout the Northeast at the start of the summer, almost the entire region is now classified by the National Drought Center as “abnormally dry” or worse. Most of New Hampshire south of the Lakes Region is now in “moderate drought” and bans on outdoor burning are widespread.

The one bright spot is that up until mid-summer, the region had seen above-average precipitation for much of the previous year and so far, New Hampshire aquifers appear to be in adequate shape with few reports of wells running dry so far.

Philippon said he has hopes for winter precipitation. He noted that although in November 2022, Penacook Lake was at the same level as currently, the amount of rain and snow over the winter made all the difference: “By April of 2023 the lake was full and spilling – six-foot increase in lake level.”

Pumping water from the river to the lake is not unusual for Concord. There are years when it isn’t necessary – 2023 was one – and years when it’s frequent, such as 2002. During that year more than 1.2 billion gallons were transferred to the lake at the typical rate of around 7 million gallons a day, meaning that water was pumped on nearly half the days of that year.

As for how much any change in lake levels caused by pumping is noticeable, Philippon cautioned that it’s “a slow process” because the city consumes 4 million gallons of water a day on average, minus any evaporation, so much of any addition gets used up quickly.

“Keep in mind every inch of depth in the lake is approximately 10 million gallons, so it may take a month to raise the lake a foot if it doesn’t rain. You would see it if you pay attention to it but it’s not quick by any means,” he said.

David Brooks can be reached at dbrooks@cmoni tor.com.