DEP: Drought Watch Remains In Effect For 20 Counties, Lifted For 16 Counties

On October 17, the Department of Environmental Protection announced after a meeting of the Commonwealth Drought Task Force that drought watch has been lifted for 16 counties and remains for 20 counties. Residents in those counties are asked to continue their voluntary water conservation.

“While significant recent rainfall has helped, groundwater and some public water supply levels remain lower than normal ranges in some counties,” said DEP Acting Secretary Ramez Ziadeh. “We ask Pennsylvanians in these and adjacent counties to continue to use water wisely and follow simple water conservation tips to ease the demand for water.”

The following counties remain on drought watch: Cameron, Carbon, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Dauphin, Juniata, Lebanon, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Potter, Schuylkill, Snyder, and Union counties.

Drought watch has been lifted for Berks, Bradford, Bucks, Delaware, Lackawanna, Lehigh, McKean, Monroe, Montgomery, Philadelphia, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Wayne, and Wyoming counties.

Residents on drought watch are asked to reduce their individual water use by 5% to 10%, or a reduction of three to six gallons of water per day.

Varying localized conditions may lead water suppliers or municipalities to ask residents for more stringent conservation actions. 

See the list of public water suppliers that have requested or mandated water conservation in their communities.

Click Here for the complete announcement.

Visit DEP's Drought Information webpage for more information and visit the USGS PA Drought Conditions Monitoring webpage for daily updates on drought conditions.

[Posted: October 17, 2022]  PA Environment Digest