Lake levels improve, but voluntary restrictions remain
After several weeks of regular rainfall, which have included a few genuinely torrential downpours, the memory of this year’s drought may have been all but washed away for many area residents.
But the return of rain to the forecast hasn’t dampened the commitment of officials in Bur-lington to a set of voluntary restrictions on water usage that the city council implemented earlier this month.
According to John Vernon with Burlington’s community engagement department, the city continues to recommend these conservation measures despite an appreciable increase in the water levels of both the city’s two reservoirs.
“The recent rains have filled up Lake Mackintosh,” Vernon conceded on Wednesday. “Lake Cammack has received less rain, and it’s two feet below where it should be. But both reservoirs are much better than they had been. For the time being, though, we will stay at Stage I Voluntary Conservation until we see long-term weather projections.”
According to the resolution that the council adopted when it enacted these measures on July 7, the city will continue to observe the voluntary restrictions until “water supplies have returned to normal levels, and conservation measures are declared no longer necessary by the mayor.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Burlington’s mayor Beth Kennett hadn’t taken any action to declare the conservation measures superfluous.
