ELKINS — The head of the City of Elkins’ Water Department gave an update regarding area drought conditions and clean-up of the flood control levee.

During Elkins City Council’s June 11 meeting, Elkins City Public Water System Chief Operator and Manager Wes Lambert talked about the city’s reservoir. Lambert explained that he had been receiving “a lot” of questions over the past two months regarding the state and the local area’s drought situation.

“In the first quarter of 2026, we were actually about 3 1/2 inches low for the rainfall for that period, and you could physically see it down at the river,” Lambert told council. “The water had receded probably three feet past. To be honest, I’ve never seen it that low for that period of time.”

Lambert then noted that the recent rainfall has helped, but that the area is still not where he would like it to be for this time of year. He emphasized, however, that the area is not in a drought, but instead said it is considered to be “abnormally dry.”

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, most of Randolph County, including the Elkins area, falls under the D0 category, or “abnormally dry.” Areas in the far west and far east are in the D1 category, or a “moderate drought.”

“I guess considering it’s June, you know, we do have a few months to go before actually in the dry season,” Lambert said. “So, it’s too early to really tell what that’s going to look like. We’ll keep and eye on it. Right now, I’m not really on high alert or anything.”

Lambert also addressed residents, saying that the City’s water supply is in “good shape” and his department will continue to keep an eye on it during the summer. He affirmed that he and his department would not keep residents in the dark if something were to change.

Lambert also noted that West Virginia, as a whole, has had drought conditions that he has never seen before, citing climate change and other issues as factors for the shift.

Also during his report, Lambert informed City Council that the Water Department would be focusing on a bigger project this summer — cleaning the debris and brush off the flood control levee. He explained that it will be a big project due to the 15 to 20 acres of land they’ll have to deal with.

“Yes, it will make (the levee) look a lot nicer, but the biggest reason that we’re going to do that is the Army Corps of Engineers actually requires us to keep that vegetation off of (the levee),” Lambert said. “One of the biggest reasons is because you can’t inspect it the way it is. You can’t get down and look at what they call the toe drain. You can’t look to see how the levee is because of the underbrush.”

During the council meeting, Mayor Jerry Marco asked Lambert if the City of Elkins would not receive any federal assistance if the levee was damaged during a flood event due to the current state it is in. Lambert said that was true, and added that the levee is currently “not in an active state.” In order to have the levee return to an active status, Lambert said the City of Elkins would have to get the under-drain inspected, remove the underbrush and then have the inspector return to verify.

“If a flood event happens or anything happens, they will restore that levee, with federal dollars, back to the state where it was before the damage occurred,” Lambert said. “Right now, they will not do it.”

Lambert admitted that it’s been hard to fit the levee clean-up into the department’s routine, as they have a “really old” water system to take care of and a “massive” water plant that requires all hands on deck. He stated that they would have preferred to take on this project in the winter, when there is no risk of poison ivy; however, the Water Department deals with line leaks the most during the colder season.

“So, we’re just going to try our best to fit that in this summer,” Lambert said. “Try to get to get it cleaned up.”