The melting snow and falling rain could lead to minor flooding across the state in the coming 10 days, but there’s little risk of a large flood, state emergency management officials announced Thursday.

That forecast followed a meeting in Augusta of the meteorologists, geologists, emergency responders and others who sit on the Maine River Flow Advisory Commission.

“Given the snowpack and predicted precipitation over the next ten days, we have an above normal chance of minor flooding but do not foresee significant flooding at this time,” said Bob Lent, of the U.S. Geological Survey, in a news release about the commission’s forecast.

The group will continue to monitor the flood potential until all snow has melted, said Susan Faloon, spokeswoman for the Maine Emergency Management Agency, but it does not plan to meet again unless the conditions warrant it.

The group also has been monitoring drought conditions across Maine and reported that groundwater levels have improved since March. Last summer, drought caused wells and farms in parts of the state to dry out, but Faloon said that April will provide the best conditions for groundwater to be replenished.

To eliminate the drought, the ideal conditions would include higher-than-normal levels of precipitation and a slow, gradual melt of the state’s snowfall, according to a U.S. Geological Survey representative who was at the Thursday meeting.


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