Androscoggin River water volumes at Auburn U.S. Geological Survey

AUBURN — The current Not-So-Great-Falls on the Androscoggin River make it all-too-obvious that water levels are down this year.

Water volume Tuesday was less than a third of what it normally is this time of year, a paltry 2,500 cubic feet per second instead of its norm of nearly 9,000 cubic feet per second.

Low as it is, the U.S. Geological Survey said the water level in Auburn was still a bit higher than its record low for May 25.

But upstream in both Rumford and in Gorham, New Hampshire, water volumes Tuesday hit record lows for the date, a troubling indication that a growing drought may get worse.

In Rumford, where the government has records going back 119 years, the median daily discharge in cubic feet per second is 4,730. On Tuesday, it was 1,730.

The U.S. Drought Monitor pegs 41% of Maine as abnormally dry and Maine’s Drought Task Force said there’s been “a substantial deficit in precipitation for this time of the year.”

A water gauge in Rumford shows how low the volume of the Androscoggin River has gotten. U.S. Geological Survey