PORTLAND, Maine — Maine regulators have launched an inquiry into how the regional drought most severely affecting southern and central Maine could affect local water utilities.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to open the inquiry to explore how water utilities should manage responses to drought conditions, including how to define water supply emergencies and how disputes regarding water supply should be resolved.
“It would be helpful to sort out some of these issues and for the utilities to have plans and protocols in place before the situation where the utility is faced with an emergency,” commission Chairman Mark Vannoy said.
Most of York, Cumberland and Sagadahoc counties entered the second-highest drought category, extreme drought, last week, along with parts of Androscoggin, Kennebec and Lincoln counties.
The drought severity designations grow gradually lower fanning out north and east, with much of the middle of the state falling into severe drought conditions as of last week.
The conditions prompted the federal Department of Agriculture to classify five southern counties as disaster areas in the past week and a lower water table has made it more difficult or dangerous to retrieve water from wells.
The Portland Press Herald reported that the York Water District made plans to draw water from the Kennebunk, Kennebunkport and Wells Water District in late September and that it instituted conservation measures, such as asking residents to cut back on watering lawns and asking fire departments to avoid using additional water for training exercises.
The inquiry with regulators will allow for utilities and the public to submit comment on questions posed about how utilities should deal with the drought. The PUC inquiry is docket number 2016-00233.