Water conservation urged as Pennsylvania declares drought watch

The Pa. Department of Environmental Protection issued a drought watch for all counties in the state.

Residents and businesses statewide are asked to voluntarily reduce water use 5% to 10%.

The assessment is based on information from public water suppliers and data on precipitation, stream and river flows, groundwater level and soil moisture.

The Pittsburgh region is 4 inches below normal precipitation, receiving 13.6 inches compared with a typical rainfall level of 17.7 inches as of mid-June, said Shannon Hefferan, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Moon.

The precipitation so far this year is less than the 21.9 inches that soaked Southwestern Pennsylvania as of this time in 2022, Hefferan said.

The rain this week did not compensate for the lack of rainfall this spring that followed a winter with little snowfall in many areas, said Rich Negrin, DEP acting secretary. Streams have lower flows, groundwater levels are dropping and the precipitation deficits are persistent, Negrin said.

Eighteen public water suppliers in the eastern part of the state are asking for voluntary water conservation in their service areas, the state said. DEP is notifying all water suppliers they should monitor their supplies and update their drought contingency plans as necessary.

DEP monitors the water level indicators in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey.

Ninety percent of the state’s topsoil is either short or very short in moisture content.

There also is an increased risk for wildfires, most of which are started by people, said Cindy Adams Dunn, secretary of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

There have been 1,400 wildfires reported in 2023, burning more than 8,500 acres statewide. There have been more wildfires this year than all of last year, when there were 1,036 wildfires that burned about 2,700 acres.