GENESEE COUNTY, N.Y. — A Genesee County town is under a state of emergency because of a severe drought.

It’s not unusual for Bethany to have a drought in spring and summer, but it is unusual for it to happen now.

The wells are dry for more than 100 residents and two big dairy farms. This is because we haven’t seen a lot of wet weather.

There had been plans to lay pipe for these areas to have access to water, but they stalled when construction prices skyrocketed during the pandemic. So water for both residential and farming use has to be hauled in from other towns.

This situation is also impacting a fire station, so water for fighting fires is being trucked in, 2,500 gallons at a time.

“I don’t know how long it’s been going on but it reached my desk as an issue a couple of weeks ago,” Bethany Town Supervisor Carl Hyde Jr. said. “So I started trying to figure out what we can do, what can be done. Nothing like this has ever been done before for residents in an area where all of the sudden their wells are dry, but with this drought, things are going to continue to get worse.”

With this state of emergency, the town will receive help from the state with supplying water for 30 days before they have to re-apply for the aid.

The town supervisor said that in order for the wells to fill back up, there will need to be significant rainfall. After that rain it will take 30 days for the water to reach the wells before it can be used. And the real kicker? All this needs to happen before the ground freezes.