Those who may have lamented the constant downpours and repeat rainy days in June, which put a slight dent in the kickoff of summertime pool and waterpark memberships, may be wishing for those rainy days to be back. The rain in July only yielded 1 inch of rain, according to an article published this week by Brian PJ Cronin in the Philipstown Paper, and April was a light month for rain.

On one of his famous hikes, Brian hiked up Mount Beacon to take pictures of the Beacon Reservoir to reveal the mud that is baking in the sun, which is usually covered by water. The Beacon Reservoir is about to hit 60%, according to weekly measuring and reporting by Beacon's Water and Sewer Department.

Therefore, a Stage 1 Drought Alert has been issued for Beacon with the following voluntary recommendations:

Using a car wash to wash your car, not washing it with a hose.
Refrain from watering your lawn; lawns will go dormant if not watered and return when moisture returns.
Refrain from washing streets, sidewalks, driveways or exteriors of structures with a hose.
Fix leaks.

Water usage makes a big difference to the Reservoir. As Brian pointed out in his article when he brought up the last time a Stage 1 Drought Alert was issued in November 2013 during an Indian summer, that the Reservoir rapidly recovered after "temperatures dipped, snow fell, and outside water use dropped dramatically."

So here's what you can do to preserve the green in your yard and keep water in the Reservoir:

Keep the weeds for a bit. There is a strip of bright green in our yard...why? It's weeds! We never seeded the area after digging around it to widen the driveway. So hey crabgrass that just won't die - you have a purpose for the moment of making our yard look good.
Brown lawns are cool. It's un-cool at this point to water your lawn. So just go with the new, sandier shade of lawn!
Hay mulch the garden. Naysayers of the hay mulching method may want to change their minds and accept the very few sprouts of new hay that pop up through dried hay, and just lay the hay down thick. This hay mulched garden has only been watered twice all season with a watering can.