Rideau Valley experiencing minor drought conditions due to dry spring

The Rideau Valley is experiencing minor drought conditionsdue to a lack of rain, according to the region's conservation authority.

During the last three months, the region has only received about 80 per cent of the normal amount of precipitationfor thistime of year.

The Rideau Valley Conservation Authority is now recommending residents who live on wells reduce their water use.

"There's a large percentage of people in [theRideau Valley] watershed that drink groundwater," according toOttawaRiverkeeperMeredith Brown.

"It's coming from the aquifers so when you start to have drought conditions your aquifers are not getting recharged so there's not as much water in them."

No rain at all in last 10 days

The conservation authority said there's been no rain in the region during the last 10days.Rain is in the forecast for this week, but officials worry it won't be enough to ease the dry conditions.

"Our focus certainly is the smaller streams," said Patrick Larson, a senior water resources technician at the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority.

"The small streams are becoming intermittent, and some ofthe larger [ones] are certainly goingdown. Jock River, KemptvilleCreek, Tay River flows are a lot lower than we're used to."

The City of Ottawa said it does not have plans to issue water restrictions, but will monitor the situation.