WORCESTER, Mass. — The Quinapoxet Reservoir is the City of Worcester’s second-largest reservoir and it is going dry.
On October 6, city officials stopped drawing water from the Quinapoxet, saying the water level is too low to continue to pump water.
“We entered the summer at 100% full on June 1, but it’s been so dry since, the levels have dropped,” Phil Guerin, Director of Worcester’s Water and Sewer Operations told me. “Once we get down that low, the pumps may or may not be able to draw the water.”
The Quinapoxet Reservoir, located in the communities of Princeton and Holden, is 20 feet below its usual level.
The Quinapoxet depends on rainwater, but the summer and now fall drought is having a dramatic effect.
Recently, city leaders declared Worcester is in a Phase 1 drought and ordered some restrictions, including a ban on irrigation and a call for citizens to not wastewater.
The Quinapoxet is one of ten reservoirs Worcester uses; water levels in other reservoirs are also low.
At this point, the city is hoping for more rain.
“If we get normal rainfall, for about two months, we can get it back up to a level that we can use it,” Guerin said. “But it won’t be completely full.”
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