Little rainfall means low river levels: what does this mean for Greenbrier County?

RONCEVERTE, WV (WVNS) – June was a dry month for southern West Virginia – including over in Greenbrier County.

According to data from the National Weather Service, the Greenbrier Valley Airport in Lewisburg only saw a little over 2 inches of rainfall for June. In comparison, the average is around 4 inches.

Paula Brown is an official with Greenbrier County Emergency Management.

She has been working for the county since 2009 and said she has not seen conditions this dry in quite a while.

It’s the worst one in a while but of course we’ve had worse droughts. But we are now routinely starting to get calls for people with shallow wells going dry and so their now looking for water supplies”

Paula Brown, Official with Greenbrier County Emergency Management

The recent dry spell is not just affecting wells – it is also affecting nearby rivers. Rivers along Greenbrier County, including the Greenbrier River, have dropped to low levels.

This, in turn, affects businesses relying on the rivers for summer income.

One such business is River City Bikes & River Adventures which rents out kayaks and water tubes to visitors.

Owner Jerry Canterbury said the levels on the Greenbrier River got so low that they were not able to put people on the water for a ten day stretch.

We had that stretch starting right around Memorial Day Weekend where we didn’t get any rain for going on 20 days, and I just watch that river go over 3 feet to right around 2 feet which is where it gets not floatable.”

Jerry Canterbury, Owner of River City Bikes and River Adventures

Officials said the public can help by preserving water.

Don’t wash your car every day. Don’t waste water and go and do the most efficient kind of washing that you can possibly do.”

Paula Brown, Official with Greenbrier County Emergency Management

We don’t control mother nature, and the Greenbrier River will always be contingent upon precipitation levels”

Jerry Canterbury, Owner of River City Bikes and River Adventures

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