WICOMICO COUNTY, Md. - Dry conditions across Wicomico County are forcing local growers to increase irrigation while placing additional stress on plants, wildlife and waterways.
At Bordeleau Vineyards and Winery in Eden, owner Tom Shelton said grapevines have needed more water than they typically would this early in the growing season.
“We’ve irrigated about three times so far this year,” Shelton said. “And the vines need water again today because it’s been quite dry.”
Shelton said grapevines are more drought tolerant than crops such as corn. Dry weather can also benefit grapes later in the growing season by reducing disease and helping produce higher-quality fruit.
However, the timing of this year’s dry stretch is unusual.
Shelton said the vineyard normally receives more rain early in the growing season, with drier conditions typically arriving in July and August. The vineyard has also faced challenges from a late April frost, which Shelton said damaged much of this year’s crop.
“The frost definitely will because our yields are going to be way, way down,” Shelton said. “The rain should not hurt the yields.”
Other growers are also changing how they care for plants.
At How Sweet It Is Produce Market, nursery worker Pam Fossey said workers have been watering more frequently and moving some plants away from direct sunlight. She said some customers have delayed buying plants as they wait for more favorable weather.
The drought’s effects extend beyond farms and nurseries.
Deborah Landau, director of ecological management for The Nature Conservancy’s Maryland and Washington, D.C., chapter, said dry conditions can reduce plant growth and lower water levels in streams and rivers.
Landau said warmer waterways hold less oxygen, which can affect fish. Wildlife may also need to travel farther to find food and water, leaving animals under additional stress.
As soil dries, Landau said it also becomes less able to absorb rainwater.
“You really need a longer period of rain,” Landau said. “If we’re in this drought, the soil becomes so dry that it’s just no longer able to absorb that water. So much of it is just going to run off.”
Growers and environmental experts said a heavy rain could provide temporary relief, but a longer period of steady rainfall is needed to rebuild soil moisture and ease the drought’s broader impacts.
