dry weather pattern persisting for months across Greater Nashua has led multiple communities to issue municipal water restrictions over the past week.

Larry Goodhue, CEO of the Nashua-based Pennichuck Water, said local residents have generally cooperated in the midst of a lengthy spring and summer without much rain.

Over the last 12 months, Nashua is down 13.12 inches of rain and received only 73 percent of the average amount of precipitation, said Doug Webster, a weather columnist for The Telegraph and senior meteorologist with Schneider Electric in Andover, Mass.

Homeowners with dug wells may also experience problems as waters table continue to drop, he said.

Pennichuck observes its water with a supervisory control and data acquisition system, known as SCADA, to monitor “all water in the system relative to levels,” Goodhue said.

“We monitor on a regular basis anyway for water quality and supply,” he said, adding that Pennichuck also responds to concerns from the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.

“We have had one or two issues where we’ve had to go out – we do police the water usage because it’s for the overall good,” Goodhue said, noting that some residents were not aware of the restrictions in their community.

Consumers found in violation of the water restriction are first warned about compliance, but could eventually face a water shutoff. Goodhue said ratepayers have 24 hours to comply before they are shut off, leading to a reconnection fee for the user.

“It is the optimum time for outside irrigation. If you just have the odd- or even-day water restriction, you could have people watering for 24 hours straight and that would not reduce the use of water,” he said, referring to water utility companies restricting water irrigation usage to between the hours of 5-8 a.m. and 5-8 p.m.

The 2016 season has been vastly different from the previous year, Goodhue said, because of a lack of snowfall. A slow snow melt usually recharges the aquifers, he said, but a relatively snow-free winter this year hasn’t helped the dry spring.

Customers of the Pennichuck Water Corporation can see the current water restrictions online at www.pennichuck.com/water_

restrictions.php.

Elsewhere in the region, the Merrimack Village District Water Works imposed a partial water restriction on Monday.

Residents are allowed to water outside from 5-8 a.m. and 5-8 p.m. on odd or even dates corresponding with their address number.

“As a result of continued heavy water consumption, extremely high temperatures and lack of precipitation, the MVD is implementing this restriction for the safety of the water supply and overall fire protection,” the district wrote in a statement. “Overuse and outside watering on the wrong days could cause the MVD to impose further restrictions on outside watering.”

The Milford Water Utilities Department also issued a temporary and voluntary restriction on June 25, asking customers to refrain from lawn watering while officials monitor water system levels.

Water Utilities director David Boucher, in an announcement posted on the town website, said voluntary cooperation of all water users is “critical to avoid a mandatory lawn watering restriction” and noted that conservation will help emergency crews access water in a fire emergency.

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