New York — Baltimore's reservoirs are so low the city plans to tap the Susquehanna River for drinking water despite complaints about its iron taste. Rivers in Maine have been reduced to a trickle. And in New Hampshire, many of the frozen waterfalls that draw ice-climbing tourists haven't formed this year.
From Maryland to Maine, the East Coast is seeing some of the driest conditions in decades.
A bridge spans a dried-out portion of the depleted Prettyboy Reservoir near Middletown, Md. Baltimore-area reservoirs are so low the city plans to tap the Susquehanna River for drinking water despite complaints about its iron taste.
More than 100 counties are under drought warnings, watches or advisories. Public officials are urging people to take shorter showers, fix plumbing leaks and wash cars with buckets instead of hoses.
"The whole system is being taxed right now," said George McKillop, a National Weather Service hydrologist in Upton, N.Y.
Precipitation is 6 to 10 inches below average in New England and the mid-Atlantic states during the last six months, off one-third or more from the norm. In New York City, which issued a drought warning Monday, precipitation has been a mere quarter of its normal level since September.
Baltimore's reservoirs are at their lowest point on record for January. The city plans to tap the Susquehanna River, whose high iron content has irritated customers in the past.
Maine is struggling through its worst drought in 107 years of record-keeping. Dam operators are shutting gates to keep reservoirs from plunging, turning rivers and streams into relative trickles.
Maine's hydroelectric power generation has dropped, driving up costs for paper mills. As many as 2,000 people have seen their wells dry up.
In New Hampshire's White Mountains, many of the frozen waterfalls that draw ice climbers to the town of North Conway have failed to form.
"We've got 30 local guides here that make their living teaching ice climbing," said Dave Kelly, a guide and assistant manager at the EMS Climbing School. "With conditions as lean as they are, you've got guides hanging around twiddling their thumbs waiting for business."
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