The lack of rainfall this summer has been great for beach vacations, but extremely dry conditions have left trees, gardens and lawns with a powerful thirst and town water companies pumping like mad to keep up with the demand.

Supply is not an issue, but pumps for the Island municipal water systems are working overtime. Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Tisbury are each pumping over two million gallons a day. It is a record summer for water usage, all tied to the drought-like conditions. The Vineyard has had no significant rainfall since July 9.

Against a backdrop of prolonged summer drought, the threat of wildfire in the Manuel F. Correllus State Forest is now high, and Island fire chiefs this week issued grave words of caution to the public.

If this year isn’t the driest on record for the Vineyard, it is certainly one of the driest, according to meteorologists. So far the Vineyard has received just over eight inches of precipitation through Tuesday, about half its yearly average over the same time period.

The unusual conditions have meant an elevated risk of brush and other fires, and the Vineyard has been part of a fire weather advisory for the region for much of the past few weeks.