Dartmouth residents will have to limit their water usage as drought conditions worsen across the region.

Town officials on Thursday announced that nonessential water uses such as irrigating lawns and gardens, as well as washing cars at home, will be prohibited.

According to Director of Public Works Tim Barber, vehicles can still be cleaned at commercial car washes, as they regularly recycle their water.

Vehicles can also be washed through the use of a bucket and sponge or employing a hose with a shut-off nozzle for rinse only.

Other restrictions include washing of hard surfaces such as sidewalks, patios, driveways, or siding, along with filling swimming pools.

Alternatives residents can take, Barber suggested, include sweeping those surfaces and covering pools when they are not in use.

“That way the water doesn’t evaporate,” he said. 

The state also recommends that households and businesses that draw water from private wells should conserve water by reducing indoor and outdoor usage.

The move comes after the state declared Southeastern Massachusetts to be in a Level 3 Critical Drought late last week. Massachusetts experienced little rain and high temperatures throughout July this year, particularly in regions like the South Coast.

In fact, Baber noted, Dartmouth had only 0.20 inches of rain at the Chase Road treatment plant last month. In typical year, the town sees around 4.6 inches in July.

“Even with the small amount of rain we’ve recently had, it’s still dry,” he said. “It takes a lot of rain to bring [levels] up and to sustain it.”

Such conditions have resulted in massive drop offs in water levels in the town’s lakes and ponds. At some Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust properties, Land Manager Linda Vanderveer said waterways are “either dried up, or down to a very low trickle.”

In fact, Barber noted, low water levels in the Paskamansett have resulted in the closure of nearby DPW wells.

“About a month ago we had a good amount of rain [and] we had the wells on for about a week, but the levels dropped again,” he said.

Thankfully, the DPW director said, there have been no drop-offs in any of the town’s water reservoirs or in the groundwater.

“It actually takes a while for groundwater to react to drought,” Barber said. “But it also takes it a while to come back from drought [conditions].”

Implementing these drought measures now, Barber said, could help mitigate any effects on groundwater.

“We’d like to preserve our resources,” he said.

According to the DPW, the town will enforce water use restrictions with “increasingly stringent penalties.”

“We will keep an eye out on these,” Barber said.

Any residents who have questions about the new restrictions should call the Water Department at (508) 999-0742. The town also plans to do reverse 911 calls to inform residents about the updated usage rules.