Groundwater emergency signals deeper strain beneath Shenandoah River

While rain has fallen often this year across the Shenandoah Valley, what’s missing is the water that should have stayed behind.

Despite above-average precipitation, groundwater in the Shenandoah River watershed remains at emergency status, with monitoring wells showing some of the lowest readings in more than two years. The Friends of the Shenandoah River is warning that the region’s underground reserves are lagging dangerously behind surface recovery.

“It is serious,” said Laura Bennett, executive director of the Friends of the Shenandoah River. “Groundwater is our savings account. Emergency status means that account is low. You might not see trouble on the surface today, because streams and reservoirs bounce back after rain, but the long-term reserve underground is stressed.”

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