DEP: Drought Task Force Maintains Drought Watch Status For All Of Pennsylvania

On July 7, following a meeting of the Commonwealth Drought Task Force this week, the Department of Environmental Protection announced it will maintain a statewide drought watch. 

While not required, residents and non-farm businesses are encouraged to voluntarily conserve water by reducing their nonessential water use.

At this time, 18 public water suppliers are asking for voluntary water conservation in their communities. 

For a map of daily drought status and a weekly list of public water suppliers that are requesting or requiring water use reduction, see the DEP Drought Information webpage.  

Drought watch declarations are not based on one indicator alone, such as precipitation. DEP assesses information provided by public water suppliers and data on four hydrologic indicators: precipitation, surface water (stream and river) flow, groundwater level, and soil moisture. 

While the recent rainfall has been welcome, there are still persistent precipitation deficits statewide. Persistent rain will be needed for more consistent meaningful improvement to groundwater levels.

DEP monitors the indicators in close partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which maintains gages in streams and wells in many locations across Pennsylvania. 

There are normal ranges for all four indicators. 

DEP makes drought status recommendations after assessing departures from these ranges and comparing this information to historical data. 

For a map that’s updated daily to show the status of each indicator for each county, see the USGS Pennsylvania drought condition monitoring website.

DEP provides data and recommendations to the state and federal agencies and other organizations that make up the Commonwealth Drought Task Force. Drought watch and warning declarations are determined by DEP, with the concurrence of the task force. 

Drought emergency declarations follow the same process, with final approval by the Governor.  No county is in drought warning or emergency status at this time.

The next Commonwealth Drought Task Force meeting is scheduled for July 26. 

Click Here for the complete announcement.

For more information, visit DEP's Drought Management webpage and read the DEP drought management fact sheet.

[Posted: July 7, 2023]  PA Environment Digest