Delaware County still on DEP ’drought watch’
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has announced that Delaware County is still on a drought watch declared last October, meaning that residents are encouraged to conserve water but are not required to do so.
The DEP’s Drought Task Force monitors the whole state and determines whether counties are in a normal state or whether conditions warrant placing each county on a drought watch, a drought warning, or a drought emergency.
In addition, the DEP works in conjunction with the Delaware River Basin Commission to monitor drought conditions all along the Delaware River for New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, depending on rainfall and the water levels and water quality in the river.
The DRBC looks at factors such as where the salt line is at any given time of year compared to where it normally is. This refers to how far upriver salt water from the Delaware Bay advances. It also looks at the water levels in reservoirs along the river.
The DEP’s Drought Task Force monitors four factors – precipitation (rain and snow fall), stream flows, groundwater levels and soil moisture in every county in the state. The U.S. Geological Survey maintains an interactive map that updates the four factors daily and the DEP reassesses the departure from normal ranges in each county every three to 12 months.
A drought watch is declared for a county when three of the four factors are in a ”watch” condition. Residents are encouraged to reduce their water use by 5 to 10%.
In a drought warning, residents are encouraged to reduce water usage by 10 to 15% and in a drought emergency the state can order residents to conserve even more, but drought emergencies are very rare in Pennsylvania. Waer utilities can also impose conservation measures when necessary to preserve their own reservoirs.
Residents can cut water usage by doing things like running the dishwasher only when it is full, taking shorter showers, installing low-flow plumbing fixtures and repairing leaks. A leaking toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water a day, according to the DEP.
Find more information on the DEP drought information website.
PHOTO/Crum Creek waterfall, Clearinghouse
