The dry weather that's plagued parts of the Maritimes this year is starting to be felt underground.
The Town of St. George, N.B., issued an urgent plea to homeowners to conserve water as much as possible, until rain can replenish the town's wells.
"We are critical. That's how we put out our notice. We are at critical water levels," says councillor David Hopper.
The community has a new water storage tank, but in recent weeks filling the tank has become increasingly difficult.
"We've had a very dry summer,” says Hooper. “The storms have missed us. We've had one rain of any consequence, and that was in August. And that's it."
Fish processing plants are among the biggest users of water. The town is also asking industry to conserve where possible.
"We're always watching our water use. We take metre readings every morning and every evening," says Chuck Brown of Cook Aquaculture.
Brown says Cook Aquaculture has taken steps to reduce water use in their facilities and will continue to do so.
"The people who are operating our plant, they also live in the community so they'd be extremely mindful of the situation,” say Brown.
It’s a situation that has lowered river levels throughout southern New Brunswick, and brought some wells to the lowest level in recent memory.
"A lot of the wells are way down. Some of them are going dry,’ says St. George resident Herb McKinley. “I don't know what this winter is going to bring because we're not getting enough rain to replenish the ground."
The town is in the process of developing an additional well to add to its overall water supply, but the root of the problem is not so much the wells, but the virtual absence of rain all summer and now into the fall.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron.
