THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published Monday October 22, 2012 at 8:45 am
Updated Monday October 22, 2012 at 6:25 pm
The water level at the massive central Massachusetts reservoir that supplies drinking water to much of the eastern part of the state has dropped to the lowest it's been at this time of year in nearly a decade, but officials say there's no need for concern.
Less than normal rainfall every month from November 2011 through April 2012 left the Quabbin Reservoir at less than 89 percent of capacity on Oct. 1.
Frederick Laskey, executive director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, which oversees the reservoir, tells The Republican newspaper (http://bit.ly/RWhpXs ) that because the Quabbin holds 417 billion gallons of water, it takes years of drought to draw it down to worrisome levels.
The Quabbin was created in the 1930s by damming the Swift River and flooding four towns.