Potomac News Reservoir – Sept. 10, 2026 >>>
The Week’s River Report
With 33% of the region in moderate drought conditions and 44% abnormally dry, today’s U.S. Drought Monitor map shows a slight improvement over last week.
Flow at the USGS Point of Rocks gage is hovering around 2,000 cubic feet per second and isn’t expected to change much in the near future.
The 12-month rain deficit is slowly improving, with 6.7 inches below average for the past year. The far western part of the watershed may get up to a couple inches of rain over the next week, but most the area is expected to get less than 1.25 inches.
That’s a wrap on the 2026 Potomac River Conference
A BIG thank you to the speakers, moderators, and sponsors that helped bring together yesterday’s impactful and informative 2026 Potomac River Conference with the theme of A Dry Horizon: The Future of Water Supply in the Potomac River Basin!
Organized by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin, the event featured regional water leaders, utilities, scientists, policymakers, and community organizations to explore how the Potomac River basin can maintain a reliable and resilient water supply amid growing uncertainty.
Discussions focused on collaboration, water reuse, emerging pressures such as population growth, aging infrastructure, groundwater sustainability, and data center development, as well as advances in forecasting and decision-support tools. A panel of local utility leaders shared long-term planning strategies and infrastructure investments, emphasizing the importance and benefits of the Potomac River basin’s regional coordination and innovative approaches to securing the region’s water future.
Links to the conference presentations and posters can be found on ICPRB’s website.
This was the fifth event in ICPRB’s annual series of Potomac River Conferences on critical issues facing the Potomac River basin and beyond. Previous subject matters included harmful algal blooms, invasive species, and PFAS.
If you attended the event, please help improve next year’s Potomac River Conference by taking a couple minutes to complete the conference evaluation, which includes a question on future topics.
Funding for the conference was provided by the Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin with additional support provided by the following sponsors: