The statewide ban on outdoor fires and smoking near public woodlands and Peterborough’s voluntary outdoor watering ban is still on, despite the daily state fire danger rating dropping to moderate. Hancock banned some outdoor water use for residents hooked up to the town water supply on Tuesday.
The “moderate” level is “a snapshot of the risk for fire growth and spread on a particular day,” Fire Chief Ed Walker explained at the Peterborough Select Board meeting Tuesday night, “but the land is still incredibly dry. Although there is a lower risk for a fire to start or rapid spread, if a fire does start they have the potential to be devastating.”
Peterborough Town Administrator Rodney Bartlett said he began to see a drop in the ground water table associated with the town water supply two weeks ago, and it’s since dropped a foot as wells have been filled. “It’s certainly not an emergency or danger,” he said, but the ongoing drought is enough to keep the water use ban in place.
The ban in Hancock applies to any water users connected to the Hancock Water System, and bans landscape watering, automated landscape sprinklers, washing streets, driveways, sidewalks, and cars or boats, and swimming pool filling. Water necessary for animals is not restricted under the ban. Violators will be warned, and second and third violations come with fines. The ban will stay in place until the Hancock Water Commission determines there’s no longer a water supply shortage.