Roanoke drought hits emergency status; Spanberger warns of mandatory measures

RICHMOND, Va. — Recent rainfall has brought a glimmer of relief to the Richmond area and Tri-Cities, but Virginia's historic drought has reached emergency status in the Roanoke region — and Gov. Abigail Spanberger is warning that a drought emergency executive order remains on the table if conditions do not improve.

"As governor, I do not want to put an executive order in place. I do not want us to need mandatory practices to conserve water," Spanberger said Thursday at a news conference held at Smith Mountain Lake. "But we are constantly in that reevaluation phase of when do we hit true, true emergency where we do need to take that extra step."

The latest U.S. Drought Monitor, released Thursday and based on conditions through Tuesday morning, shows meaningful improvement across multiple drought categories statewide. Extreme drought has dropped from 26% to 17% — a decrease of nearly 10 percentage points. Severe drought has fallen 7 points to 33%, and moderate drought dropped 7 points to 35%. Areas near Richmond down to the Tri-Cities are no longer in drought status, having been downgraded to the abnormally dry category.

(WTVR)

However, the improvement does not tell the full story. All areas of the commonwealth continue to experience historic drought conditions. Statewide rainfall is approximately 7.8 inches below normal for the water year — making this the second driest water year on record. The Roanoke region has received only 57% of its normal rainfall.

"Millions of little choices across Virginia can add up and can have a big, big impact," Spanberger said. "Some recent rains have helped. Some of the voluntary measures have helped. There's been a little bit of positive news, but we need to keep it up."

Roanoke region reaches emergency status

The Roanoke Drought Evaluation Region — which includes Bedford, Campbell, Charlotte, Franklin, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Patrick, Pittsylvania, and Roanoke counties, and the cities of Danville, Martinsville, Roanoke, and Salem — has reached emergency status after Virginia's Drought Monitoring Task Force recommended a drought emergency for the region on July 7.

Spanberger held Thursday's news conference at Smith Mountain Lake, which sits 5.5 feet below normal levels. The lake, which provides electricity, drinking water, and water for farmers while also driving significant recreational tourism, has become a symbol of the drought's severity in the region.

"In Northern Virginia, in Richmond, on the eastern shore, the impacts of the drought impact everyone, even if the severity of it isn't as extreme as we are feeling right here," Spanberger said.

Conditions in the Roanoke region are among the most severe in the state. Surface water flow is below the 5th percentile, and streamflow within the James River, Meherrin River, New River, and Roanoke River watersheds continue to show significant deficits. Groundwater wells in the region continue to set provisional record daily low water levels.

Reservoir levels at Smith Mountain Lake and John Kerr Reservoir are well below normal, sitting 5.5 feet and 4.45 feet below normal, respectively.

"Unfortunately, if conditions on the ground do not rapidly improve, mandatory water conservation measures may be necessary in the Roanoke region," said Adrienne Kotula, the commonwealth's Acting Drought Coordinator and Deputy Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources.

Senator Mark Peake, who represents the 8th Senate District including the northern portion of Smith Mountain Lake, urged residents to act voluntarily to avoid government intervention.

"Only God can fix this. Only God gets to make water, but each and every one of us can do our own part to help ease this drought that we're going through," Peake said. "If we voluntarily take water-saving measures, the government will not have to step in."

WATCH: Drought improves for Central Virginia; more showers, storms in forecast

Water utilities sounding the alarm

The Western Virginia Water Authority and Bedford Water Authority together serve the region and are working to maintain reliable water service. Brian Key, executive director of Bedford Water Authority, urged residents to reduce non-essential water use now.

"We much prefer to be in the voluntary restriction stage rather than the mandatory restriction stage, but it really calls for everybody to do a little bit," Key said. "If you can keep a little bit of those non-essential uses out and keep the water for the essential uses for the potable needs for drinking water, we'll all be in a better place."

Key also called on regulators to review the criteria for downstream water releases at Smith Mountain Lake, noting that evaporation accounts for far more water loss than withdrawals by water utilities. He said he was told Thursday that regulators are working with AEP to potentially reduce the amount of water released downstream.

Private wells going dry

Dwayne Roadcap, director of drinking water at the Virginia Department of Health, said the state is seeing an increase in well applications to replace wells that are going dry.

"If you're on a private well and you're noticing low flow pressure or no flow pressure, reach out to your local health department, but more importantly, give your well a rest and give it time to rest so that it can recover," Roadcap said.

Roadcap has served on the Drought Monitoring Task Force for the past year and said the task force, which typically meets every two weeks, is now meeting weekly given the severity of conditions.

What could come next

Spanberger said the administration is monitoring conditions on an hourly basis and that there is no clear timeline for what comes next.

"There is no clear map for what comes next, because what we are all wanting to see is a shift of improvement," Spanberger said. "We will celebrate any small minor improvement. We want to see that continue."

Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources David Bulova said some water utilities have independent authority to implement their own mandatory restrictions and that more aggressive outreach is possible in certain areas.

"In some areas there may be some more aggressive outreach and potentially mandatory restrictions," Bulova said. "We're looking at the whole thing and making decisions week by week about whether we need to ramp up those efforts."

Bulova noted that a single rain event will not end the drought. Like the 2002 drought, which lasted several years, recovery will require sustained rainfall over a long period of time.

Virginia's Drought Assessment and Response Plan, which has been in effect since 2003 and was developed in the wake of the last major drought, provides the roadmap for the state's coordinated response.

Agricultural impacts

Virginia's farmers have been struggling with the drought since 2025, and conditions have grown more severe throughout 2026. Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Katie Frazier said the impacts are visible across fields, orchards, and forests statewide.

The USDA Farm Service Agency has issued drought disaster designations for over 75 Virginia localities, including all localities in the Roanoke region. Farmers have had to feed hay during times when pastures should be abundant, and some producers are trucking hay in from states outside Virginia.

Scott Sink, president of the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation and a beef cattle and hay producer in Franklin County, said mandatory restrictions would directly impact agricultural livelihoods.

"Agriculture relies on water for our livelihood and so having mandatory restrictions would definitely impact that," Sink said. "We already have producers that are having to truck hay in from states outside of this region."

Frazier said most of the severe agricultural impacts will not be fully known until fall harvest, when crop yields and losses are quantified. She encouraged farmers to report drought impacts to local extension agents and county Farm Service Agency offices, and to visit the VDACS disaster recovery resource website.

Farmers struggling with the mental health toll of the drought can call or text the AgriStress helpline at 833-897-2474, which provides support specifically designed for agricultural families.

What residents can do

Officials say water conservation should remain an everyday practice at home and at work. Suggested steps include:

• Shorten showers
• Turn off faucets while brushing teeth or shaving
• Run full loads of dishes and laundry
• Disable automatic lawn sprinklers
• Water lawns less frequently, only between dusk and dawn
• Wash cars less often
• If on a private well with low or no flow pressure, contact your local health department