PA Environment Digest

Following the recommendations of the Pennsylvania Drought Task Force, the Department of Environmental Protection announced it has removed about two-thirds of the state from drought watch and warning status.

DEP lifted the declarations for 46 counties located primarily in central and eastern Pennsylvania. In western Pennsylvania, 21 counties either remain in or were reclassified to drought watch status.

"The remnants of Tropical Storm Nicole dropped two to seven inches of rain above the average for the eastern two-thirds of the state in late September, helping to return stream flow measurements in those regions to normal," said DEP Secretary John Hanger. "That same weather system bypassed the western part of the state, though, and more recently, ongoing dry conditions have worsened the region's precipitation deficit, so we're keeping drought watch designations in place for the time being."

The Pennsylvania Drought Task Force used reports and forecasts from the National Weather Service and DEP's drought monitoring network to form its recommendations.

Effective last Wednesday, drought watch and drought warning designations were lifted in Adams, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bradford, Bucks, Cambria, Cameron, Carbon, Centre, Chester, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mifflin, Monroe, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Philadelphia, Pike, Potter, Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Wayne, Wyoming and York counties.

The following western Pennsylvania counties remain in drought watch status: Armstrong, Butler, Clarion, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Forest, Indiana, Jefferson, McKean, Venango, Warren and Westmoreland.

DEP upgraded the following counties from drought warning to drought watch status: Allegheny, Beaver, Fayette, Greene, Lawrence, Mercer, Somerset and Washington.

A drought watch declaration is the first — and least severe — of the state's three drought classifications. It calls for a voluntary 5 percent reduction in non-essential water use. The next stage, a drought warning, calls for a voluntary reduction of 10 percent to 15 percent.

A drought watch and drought warning was declared on Sept. 16 following months of below-normal rainfall that resulted in low stream flow conditions and precipitation deficits of as much as 5 inches.

DEP offers conservation recommendations for residential water users as well as commercial and industrial users such as food processors, hotels and motels, schools and colleges.

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