From the Governor’s Press Release: “Governor M. Jodi Rell today issued a Drought Advisory for the State of Connecticut and directed all state agencies to immediately take steps to conserve water at state facilities.

“We all must do our part to cut down on our water usage and the State of Connecticut will lead by example with our conservation efforts,” said Governor Rell. Rainfall totals over the past few months have been 35 percent below normal.

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According to research performed during the Eightmile Wild & Scenic study, the flow levels have reached the “catastrophe” level for low flow and duration. The graph below (click for larger image) overlays the actual flow on a given day (stars) with the predicted habitat status on the Eightmile River. The simple explanation is that the lower the flows and the longer the drought the worse the situation is. As you can see, the Eightmile has been in the red zone for quite some time. While the exact implications of this low flow period on the fish populations are yet to be realized, we can expect significant consequences on the ecology and health of the river.