Today, ICPRB has initiated daily Drought Monitoring due to low flows in the Potomac River.

Staff in ICPRB’s Section for Cooperative Water Supply Operations on the Potomac (CO-OP) begins daily Drought Monitoring when flow at the USGS stream gage at Point of Rocks, Maryland, falls below 2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs).

Currently, the flow is 1,740 cfs.

During Drought Monitoring, CO-OP staff send out daily email reports to stakeholders, including water suppliers and government agencies, summarizing the river’s flow, weather predictions, and how much water the region is using on a daily basis.

A summary of the daily report will also be posted on ICPRB’s socials using #DroughtMonitoring. Find a link to the full report on ICPRB’s Drought Monitoring and Operations website.

Established in the 1970s, CO-OP helps manage the Washington metropolitan area water supply system by coordinating withdrawals from the Potomac River and off-river reservoirs and recommending releases from upstream reservoirs when forecasted flow in the river is not sufficient to meet expected needs.

At present, there is sufficient flow in the Potomac River to meet Washington metropolitan area’s water demands without releases from upstream reservoirs. If low‐flow conditions worsen, the metro area is well‐protected from a water supply shortage through well-established contingency plans, which includes CO-OPs drought monitoring and operations protocols.