It may have rained on Canada Day, but overall conditions in Wellington County have been dry, according to Environment Canada and the National Agroclimate Information Service.
The county, along with other areas in southern Ontario, has seen little in the way of rain, leading to concerns for crops.
Geoff Coulson, warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment Canada, confirmed the dry conditions.
“I don’t think it’s a shock to anybody to find out that it has been notably drier than normal in the area for the month of June,” said Coulson.
He explained Environment Canada recorded 50mm of precipitation at the Waterloo airport in June, while the average should be around 82mm.
The National Agroclimate Information Service’s Drought Watch has also recorded low numbers.
In a comparison between June 2015 and June 2016, the difference is substantial.
“Well, it’s dry, there’s no question,” said Patrick Cherneski, manager of National Agroclimate Information Service.
However, both organizations have been careful not to label the current conditions as a “drought.”
“There’s no single definition, more what they are looking for is a departure from the long-term normal, to indicate how dry it has been,” said Coulson.
“We’ve been sort of calling it extremely dry.”
So far in June, rain has come in bursts at the end of a long dry period, which Coulson said is not ideal for farmers.
“We’ve seen this pattern repeated on and off this spring and the first part of the summer where we’ll get a sort of burst of rainfall, we could get 10 to 20mm falling in a single event, but if the ground is very hard, then a lot of that rain is running off before it has a chance to soak in and be beneficial to the roots of the crops and trees and grass and that nature,” he said.
“So these sudden bursts of rain, if you look at overall numbers, you say well the numbers don’t look too bad, but if you look at how the rain has fallen and if there’s been long stretches of dry conditions just punctuated by these brief bursts of heavy rain, it’s not really the type of rainfall the farmers are looking for.”
Drought Watch is one of the main vehicles for Agriculture Canada to release information and tools for farmers about risk management, especially for drought.
Cherneski said there is concern for crops, but impacts of the dry conditions haven’t appeared yet.
“In some ways it’s still too early to tell. There is concern, particularly for corn, soybeans and forage. While it’s been dry, the impacts have not really begun to appear and so there certainly is risk, all the more if the dry conditions continue,” said Cherneski.
He added Ontario typically receives a lot of rainfall and farmers have developed agricultural practices around that expectation.
“So of course when the precipitation doesn’t arrive there gets to be concern; in terms of the weather in southern Ontario, it can sort of turn around fairly quickly,” said Chereski.
“The dry period to date hasn’t been so lengthy and so intense that there’s cause for immediate concern.”
Although he added there are pockets in southern Ontario that are getting drier.
Coulson said June’s temperature was sitting around the average, but he expects July’s temperature to be warmer than normal. He added the dry conditions are likely to continue into July.
Water restrictions
The Grand River Conservation Authority issued a release asking the public to conserve water by at least 10 per cent.
“Low rainfall since mid-April has contributed to reduced stream flows on a number of tributaries throughout the watershed and the GRCA has increased augmentation levels at its large reservoirs in order to maintain low flow targets on the Grand and Speed Rivers,” states the release.
The entire watershed has been placed on Level 1 of the Ontario Low Water Response Program.
The Level 1 results in a request for a voluntary reduction in water consumption by all users including municipalities, aggregate operations, golf courses, water bottlers, farms and private users.
Fire ban
On July 5, the entire county was placed under a complete fire ban.
Wellington County’s fire chiefs have made the decision to prohibit all open air burning, including bonfires, campfires, burn barrels, outdoor fireplaces or any other fires set in open air. This move comes as a response to the extreme dryness in Wellington County.
