When Drought Starts Affecting Your Home
Drought is easy to see in a brown lawn, but the effects on the rest of your property are harder to spot.
Prolonged dry weather changes the amount of moisture in the soil, lowers groundwater levels and puts stress on trees and other plants. It also leaves vegetation drier and more combustible, and when rain finally returns, a sudden downpour can create problems of its own. Some effects appear while the drought is underway, while others don't become noticeable until months or even years later.
This makes drought worth thinking about as more than a lawn and garden problem.
When Does Dry Weather Become a Drought?
A few weeks without rain doesn't necessarily mean an area is officially in drought. In Virginia, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) works with the Virginia Drought Monitoring Task Force to track conditions across 13 drought evaluation regions, which allows the state to account for the considerable differences in rainfall and water supplies from one part of Virginia to another.
Rainfall is only one measure. The state also monitors groundwater levels, streamflow and water stored in major reservoirs, along with soil moisture, agricultural conditions, water-supply concerns and weather forecasts. This broader view explains why western Virginia can be experiencing significant drought while another part of the state has adequate water, and why several days of rain don't necessarily bring a drought to an end. Streams can rise and lawns may begin turning green, but groundwater and reservoirs remain well below normal.
Virginia classifies conditions as Normal, Watch, Warning or Emergency. A Watch indicates that conditions are becoming dry enough to warrant conservation, while a Warning reflects a more serious shortage and calls for increased voluntary conservation. A Drought Emergency is the highest level and can bring mandatory restrictions on activities such as watering lawns, washing vehicles and filling swimming pools.
Governor Abigail Spanberger's recent State of Emergency related to drought has added another term to the conversation. The declaration was prompted by the effect of prolonged drought on Virginia agriculture, including a statewide shortage of hay, and allows the state to take steps to help farmers and move hay where it is needed. It is not the same as declaring a statewide Drought Emergency, and it does not mean every Virginia homeowner is under mandatory water restrictions.
What Happens to the Ground Beneath Your House?
The amount of water in the soil around your home changes throughout the year, but the type of soil determines what those changes can mean for a house.
High shrink-swell clays, for example, expand when wet and contract when dry. Repeated changes in soil water volume in these clays can cause cracking in house foundations. These soils occur in parts of the Piedmont and Valley and Ridge regions, although the presence of clay alone doesn't mean a property has a foundation problem.
The sandy soils common in eastern and coastal Virginia behave differently. They don't create the same shrink-swell pressure on a foundation, but heavy or concentrated runoff can carry sandy soil away from foundations and other structures. If enough supporting soil is lost, settling or cracking can follow.
Soil type is only part of the equation. The construction of the house, drainage around it, nearby trees and the length and severity of the drought all influence how a property responds. Homeowners should watch for new cracks or changes in existing ones, along with doors or windows that begin sticking, gaps that appear around trim or masonry, and movement in patios, walkways or retaining walls.
There isn't much a homeowner should try to do to the soil itself, and deliberately soaking dry ground around a foundation can create another abrupt change in moisture. Instead, concentrate on good drainage. Keep gutters clear and downspouts working properly so that when rain returns, water moves away from the foundation rather than collecting beside it. If cracks or other signs of movement continue to change, have the problem evaluated rather than assuming drought is the only cause.
Trees Can Show the Effects Long After the Rain Returns
A mature tree can look reasonably healthy during a drought even while it is under considerable stress. As moisture disappears from the soil, its roots have less water available to replace what the tree loses through its leaves, and a tree already dealing with insects, disease, root damage or poor growing conditions has even less ability to compensate.
This is one reason drought damage to trees can be easy to underestimate. A tree will survive through a dry summer but continue to decline afterward, particularly when drought stretches across consecutive years. Thinning foliage, smaller leaves, leaf scorch, early fall color and dead twigs or branches, fewer blooms and acorns all signal stress.
If water is limited, established trees and shrubs are generally a better priority than keeping the entire lawn green. Water them slowly and deeply across the root area rather than frequently applying a small amount around the trunk, and use mulch to help the soil retain moisture without piling it against the tree.
Keep watching your trees after the drought is over, particularly large ones close enough to damage your house. Delayed changes are easy to overlook once regular rainfall has returned, but they can be part of the same drought that began months earlier.
If You Have a Well, Drought Can Reach the Faucet
For homeowners with private wells, drought isn't limited to what is happening outside. As groundwater levels fall, a well will produce less water, and shallow wells can be particularly vulnerable during an extended dry period.
The first signs are typically reduced pressure, sediment in the water or changes in water quality, although in more severe conditions a well can stop producing water altogether. Cutting back on nonessential water use reduces the demand on the well, and spreading necessary high-use activities such as laundry throughout the week can help rather than drawing large amounts of water in a short period.
If a well begins running dry, stop using water and give it time to recover rather than trying to adjust the pump yourself. A licensed well professional can determine whether the problem is related to falling groundwater or something mechanical.
Rain doesn't necessarily solve the problem immediately. Groundwater is replenished as water slowly moves down through the soil and underlying material, so several rainy days can make the landscape look considerably better without restoring the aquifer that supplies a well. Knowing the depth and age of your well, having the water tested regularly and paying attention to unexplained changes in taste, appearance or quality become especially useful during and after a prolonged drought.
Dry Weather Changes the Fire Risk Around Your House
As vegetation dries, ordinary material around a property becomes easier to ignite. Dry grass, leaves, dead branches and brush can all provide fuel, particularly when drought is accompanied by wind.
Homes bordering woods have an obvious exposure, but fire risk isn't limited to heavily wooded properties. Leaves accumulated beneath a deck, dead shrubs next to a house or garage, dry grass around an outbuilding and piles of fallen branches can all help a fire move across a property.
You don't need to strip the landscape around your house to reduce the risk. Remove dead vegetation and accumulated leaves, pick up fallen branches, keep grass maintained and pay particular attention to dry material next to structures or beneath decks and porches. Before burning leaves or brush, check current state and local restrictions. Outdoor burning is limited during periods of elevated fire danger.
When the Rain Finally Comes Back
After weeks of wishing for rain, it seems odd to think of a downpour as another potential problem, but very dry ground doesn't always handle a large amount of water well.
Water that falls on a roof, driveway or patio can't soak into those surfaces and becomes runoff instead. Hard, compacted or bare ground absorbs a heavy rain more slowly, allowing water to travel across the property, carry soil with it and collect in low areas. Sandy soil generally accepts water more readily than clay, but concentrated runoff can erode it, particularly around slopes, foundations and other structures.
This is why it's useful to watch what happens on your property during the first substantial rains after a drought. Gutters should carry roof water into downspouts, and downspouts should discharge far enough from the house that water isn't collecting around the foundation. If you see water cutting channels through the yard, washing soil away or repeatedly pooling beside a structure, the drainage deserves attention.
Some of that runoff can also be put to use. Flexible downspout extensions can direct appropriate amounts toward lawn or planted areas, while rain barrels can capture roof water for use later. A properly located rain garden can hold runoff temporarily and allow it to soak into the ground rather than immediately leaving the property.
Whatever method you use, plan for more water than the system can hold. A rain barrel that works beautifully during an ordinary shower fills quickly in a downpour, and a planted area that normally absorbs runoff can become saturated. The overflow still needs a safe route away from the house.
Some Effects Outlast the Drought
The end of a drought doesn't necessarily end its effects. Grass will turn green again quickly, but cracks caused by soil movement won't disappear just because the rain has returned, and groundwater levels can take much longer to recover than surface conditions would suggest.
The months after a drought are a good time to keep watching the parts of your property that were under the most stress. Notice whether cracks continue to change, whether a private well has returned to normal and where water travels during heavy rain, and keep an eye on mature trees even if they appeared to make it through the drought without a problem (it may take a mature tree up to three years to die from drought stress).
A drought starts with a lack of rain, but what it leaves behind can last much longer.
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