As the swelter of warmer weather hits Washington and its neighboring areas, the Potomac River basin is experiencing record-breaking low flow, which caused the Drought Coordination Committee of the Metropolitan Council of Governments (COG) to issue a regional drought watch on June 3.
According to the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB), the section of the river upstream of the District received 2 inches of rain in April, 1.4 inches below normal. As of May 1, it received 37.4 inches of overall precipitation, which is 2.6 inches. The U.S. Drought Monitor Map reports that 40% of the Potomac watershed is suffering from severe drought conditions– a circumstance that puts the region’s sole water source at risk.
“Earlier this spring… we became concerned because for those dates when the river should be very high from spring rains, we actually hit historic lows,” ICPRB Executive Director Michael Nardolilli told The Informer. “We were really low, at record-setting 131-year lows.”
“Drought Watch” is the second phase in the COG’s Water Supply and Drought Awareness Response Plan. This stage is classified as D1 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), meaning moderate drought conditions have transpired, which results in some damage to crops, streams, reservoirs and the encouragement of voluntary restricted water usage.
The next two stages– Warning and Emergency– are characterized by extremely low levels in the Jennings Randolph and Little Seneca reservoirs and increased encouragement, or even requirement, for usage restrictions.
“In terms of looking down the road, we don’t foresee it going into a warning status or emergency status,” Narodlilli told The Informer.
While the basin experienced low rainfall, that isn’t the only factor contributing to a drought like this one. Above-average temperatures combined with low precipitation levels can induce a hot drought, which causes intense dry conditions that exacerbate evaporation. Since the last 11 years have been some of the hottest on record, with April 2026 being nationally ranked the third-hottest April in 132 years, a hot drought is almost inevitable.
Even warmer winter seasons can trigger a snowball effect, with decreased snowfall leading to increased risk of drought.
“With the warmer temperatures, especially in late spring and early summer, we’ve seen less snow pack overall and earlier snow melt, meaning that we can actually get a rush of water during the spring, but then less overall water availability for energy production, for drinking water, for agriculture later on in the summer,” said Illinois State Climatologist Dr. Trent Ford during a June 2 press briefing.
Next Steps: Secondary Water Sources
Since dry conditions throughout the Potomac watershed could put water access at risk in the Washington Metropolitan Area, experts are exploring various options for a secondary water source in the region. Currently, the reservoirs closest to the nation’s capital, like the 140-million-gallon Georgetown Reservoir on MacArthur Boulevard, only provide enough water to sustain one day of backup.
While resources miles upstream would offer more backup supply, like the 4.5-billion-gallon Little Seneca Lake or the 31-billion-gallon Jennings Randolph Lake, the water would take multiple days to reach Washington.
To tackle this issue, the United States Army Corps of Engineers is exploring different solutions– such as ways to expand the Delecarlia Reservoir to provide one and a half days of backup, and converting the Armize Mid Atlantic Travilah Quarry to a water storage facility. D.C. Water’s June 10 launch of the Pure Water D.C. facility is also a step toward expanding resources for the region.
“Pure Water DC is not just one project,” Sherri Lewis, spokesperson for DC Water, wrote to The Informer. “It is a coordinated set of initiatives designed to strengthen the resilience of the District’s water system— including how advanced water recycling could help create a second, reliable source of water.”
The research facility, located at the Blue Plains Water Resource Recovery Facility, will use advanced purification technologies to analyze water cleaning, refinement and reuse to address the city’s water demand. The new development will also serve the public as an education space, geared toward teaching residents how water recycling is a viable solution.
In the meantime, experts are urging residents to be intentional about their water use– from not watering their lawns to taking shorter showers to using low-flow showerheads– to mitigate the consequences of the drought and ensure the Potomac’s supply isn’t being wasted.
“When you develop good habits, then it’s much easier than when you have a restriction come in place, then you’re already doing those things, and it’s not such a great shock to the system to change what you’re doing,” Nardolilli told The Informer. “So, hopefully people will use water wisely and develop these good habits now, and we’ll see how the rest of the year pans out.”
