DROUGHT INFORMATION, Summer 2022

The City of Salem, along with the City of Beverly, belong to the Salem and Beverly Water Supply Board (Water Board) which stores and treats our drinking water.  The reason you typically don’t see water bans in either City is due to the fact that the Water Board does not take water from the Ipswich River during the dry summer months. The Water Board only pumps water from the Ipswich River when supply is sufficiently high, typical from December through May. Water from the River is stored in our reservoirs, including Wenham Lake, Putnamville and the Longham Reservoirs for use throughout the year. These reservoirs were built and invested in by both communities so that we’d have adequate water supply as needed.

For more information on your drinking water supply please visit  http://www.sbwsb.net/sbwsb/

To be clear, that does not mean we should not do our part to try and conserve water. It’s a precious resource and we should only use what we need.  Information on water conservation practices can be found on the City’s water and sewer pages under “Water Conservation Tips”

Find out the current drought status in Massachusetts by clicking https://www.mass.gov/info-details/drought-status