Drought impact extends to Wachusett Mountain
Edd Cote
After a spring and summer of dry conditions, Jeff Crowley filled the feeder pond at his Wachusett Mountain Ski Area with water from Fitchburg, despite a 50-percent increase in rates.
At the start of September, Jeff Crowley stared into the empty hole that was his feeder pond for snowmaking at the Wachusett Mountain Ski Area in Princeton, he knew it was time to pay the piper.
In the midst of the worst Massachusetts drought since the 1960s, Crowley and the rest of the team at Wachusett Mountain Associates now are forced to rely on their backup contract with the city of Fitchburg to provide enough water for snowmaking this coming skiing season – a contract that became 50-percent more expensive this year after Fitchburg raised its water rates.
“Last year was the worst year to implement rate increases,” said Crowley, president of the ski area. “We run a tight ship so we can deal with these unforeseen increases.”
Because of the increase in water rates, Wachusett Mountain could end up spending $94,500 to obtain enough water from Fitchburg for snowmaking – after the last four years when the ski area never had to pay more than $40,000.
The resort often sets its seasonal prices before it knows about increases in expenses like water, utilities, vendor supplies and insurance, so these cost increases are harder to absorb in a single season, Crowley said.
To help offset increasing snowmaking expenses as climate conditions continue to be hot in the future, Crowley invested in a new $2-million efficient pump station to double Wachusett’s snowmaking capabilities.
Worst drought in 50 years
Since the U.S. Drought Monitor began in 2000, this year is the first time a D3 Extreme Drought has been declared in Massachusetts, said Jake Crouch, physical scientist with National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville, N.C.
Looking at rainfall, temperature and other climate data dating back to 1895, this year appears to be the worst drought in Massachusetts since the middle and late 1960s, Crouch said. Those droughts 50 years ago were more widespread throughout the Northeast; this year is mostly concentrated on New England.
The city of Worcester already has asked businesses to restrict their water usage through measures like restaurants not serving customers water and auto dealers not washing their cars, since the city’s reservoirs have been drawn down to 53-percent capacity.
“It is incumbent on everybody to conserve water resources,” said Timothy Murray, president and CEO of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce. “It is in all of our interests from both an environmental view and a dollars-and-cents view.”
The current drought will run through at least December with below-average precipitation and above-average temperatures across the Northeast, Crouch said.
“Looking at longer-term climate projections, while it is difficult to say if Massachusetts will see more persistent drought, it is expected that droughts across the U.S. will become more intense and longer lasting,” Crouch said.
Costly water
Wachusett Mountain’s agreement to buy water from Fitchburg dates back 17 years, where the price for the ski area had always been $600 for every million gallons it used, plus a 5-percent administration charge, according to the contract.
The city increased the amount to $900 per million gallons to get Wachusett Mountain more in line with what city residents were paying for water and to cover maintenance costs like cleaning spillways and dealing with beaver dams, said John Deline, deputy commissioner of water supply for Fitchburg Department of Public Works.
“It’s really like we are renting the water,” Crowley said. “We pump it up the mountain, make it into snow and when it melts, it returns to the lake.”
Wachusett Mountain uses 100 million gallons of water annually to cover its over 108 acres containing 26 trails for skiing and snowboarding, according to its website.
Over the last four fiscal years, Wachusett bought between 40 million and 60 million gallons from Fitchburg to make up the difference between what Mother Nature sent to the ski area, according to the city’s records, but that was not during an extreme drought.
“We are seeing very low levels of bulk precipitation throughout the state,” said Daniel Sieger, assistant secretary for environment at the state Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs. “The worst of these regions is the central region – which includes Worcester – and the northeast region of the state.”
Not ideal snowmaking conditions
Warmer weather trends mean a shorter snowmaking window, said Crowley. Wachusett Mountain makes snow at night when temperatures are colder and electricity rates are lower.
Its snowmaking is a circulatory system where water and compressed air are pumped up one trail and down another. The air and water meet at a nozzle where they are combined and are propelled into the air at about 30-feet above the ground surface, freezing in about six seconds.
The addition of the second $2-million pump is expected to double the organization’s snowmaking capabilities, and it includes a computer-controlled system that monitors temperature and humidity to automate the snowmaking.
Nature-made snow can fall thousands of feet and crystalize over about six days which creates the intricate snowflake structure. Snowmaking snow is more like little snow blobs, Crowley said.
When temperatures hover around the 32-degree mark, snowmaking is possible but all the water molecules might not have enough time to form snow, so they hit the surface as water and combine with the snow which can make for icy ski conditions.
“Our snowmaking experts have learned that closer to 15-degrees Fahrenheit is the sweet spot for snowmaking,” said Crowley. “At this temperature, production is off the charts. It is almost as good as nature and can withstand the warming and cooling temperature ranges over the following days.”
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