Kittery Starts Strict Water Rules

KITTERY — Maine has not had enough rain for a long time. That is called a drought. Ponds and wells are getting low. Kittery made new rules this week. People there can water their yards only two days a week. Almost 900,000 people in Maine live in a dry spot.

Why it matters: Your town may ask your family to use less water at home.

KITTERY — Kittery's water district imposed Level 3 restrictions on Monday, the most severe tier available to it, with no end date announced. Outdoor watering is now confined to the hours between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m., odd-numbered addresses may water on Mondays and Thursdays, even-numbered addresses on Tuesdays and Fridays, and nobody may water on weekends. A first violation draws a written warning, a second a $100 penalty, and a third a $500 penalty plus termination of service. The district's ponds are sitting at levels it would ordinarily expect in late autumn. The conditions are regional rather than local. Approximately 886,000 Mainers, well over half the state's population, are now experiencing at least moderate drought, and the coastal band running from Cumberland County through southern Hancock County has deteriorated into severe drought. Southern and western Maine have received roughly half their normal rainfall, and about 73% of York County residents live in an area classified as in drought. The pattern is not new. The current drought began in the summer of 2025, peaked statewide in late October, eased through the spring, then intensified again beginning in July. National Weather Service meteorologist Cameron Barker summarized the problem simply: the region "needed to receive additional rainfall to keep heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, we have not done that."

Background

Much of coastal York County draws drinking water from surface reservoirs and shallow aquifers that refill from rainfall rather than from deep groundwater. A dry summer therefore shows up in supply within months rather than years, which is how a district goes from normal operations to Level 3 restrictions inside a single season.

Why it matters: Restrictions are a rationing tool, not a supply fix. If the fall stays dry, the question stops being when residents may water lawns and becomes whether towns need to interconnect systems or buy water outright.

What to watch: The US Drought Monitor release each Thursday, and whether neighboring York County districts follow Kittery into mandatory restrictions.