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Photo by Westwood Minute/Darlene Wong Cancell. A family of geese, with young goslings, enjoys the full waters of Westwood's Buckmaster Pond, on June 5, 2025.
6-17-2025 11:05pm
Drought is Downgraded to Level 0 - Normal Conditions - in Westwood, Dedham
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Effective Monday, June 16th, water use restrictions for customers of Dedham-Westwood Water District are no longer mandatory, but voluntary, following an announcement by the state last week that conditions in the Southeast Region have been downgraded from Level 1 Mild Drought Conditions to Level 0, Normal Conditions.
Although conditions are now declared to be normal, Dedham-Westwood Water District requests that customers voluntarily limit their outdoor watering to no more than one day a week, before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m.
Customers located on streets with names beginning with these letters... |
...are asked to limit watering to before 9:00 a.m. and after 5:00 p.m. on this day: |
|
A through C |
Mondays |
|
D through J |
Tuesdays |
|
K through R |
Thursdays |
|
S through Z |
Fridays |
The above schedule of water use restrictions is the same schedule that has been in place since April 28th this year for the drought's mandatory water restrictions, but now under normal conditions, the restrictions are voluntary.
"Over the past three months, precipitation has been well above normal with recent rain improving streamflow and reducing fire risk across the state. However, drought conditions since last August continue to affect groundwater levels, which typically take longer to recover," says the June 10th announcement by the state.
Dedham-Westwood Water District notes that the Massachusetts Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs/Drought Management Task Force typically meets monthly to review conditions in the Commonwealth. This month, its meeting resulted in downgrading the drought in the Southeast Region, of which Dedham and Westwood are a part, to normal conditions. Drought status changes can be found on the water district's website and social media pages.
