AUGUSTA – No end is in sight to the two-year drought that has depleted groundwater supplies, drying up many of the state’s wells.

The entire state is currently in a moderate drought, and conditions have become more severe over the last several weeks, Maine’s Drought Task Force reported following its meeting Wednesday.

Officials said precipitation was below normal in August, which worked against improvements made during a wetter than usual spring.

“We’ve been using the phrase, ‘The bottom dropped out,’ in August,” said Lynette Miller of the Maine Emergency Management Agency.

Although conditions are better in northern Maine than in the south, groundwater levels remain low throughout the state, the task force reported.

The state’s Emergency Management Agency has been receiving four or five reports of dry wells per day, up from one or two per week in early August.

Tropical storm Isidore is expected to bring as much as 1.5 inches of rain to Maine on Friday and Saturday.

But the drought, which began over two years ago, will not end with a short burst of heavy rainfall, Miller said.

“It would require some exceptional conditions,” Miller said. “When you look back at the last 12 months, our precipitation deficit is pretty dramatic.”