Even with rain over the past few weeks, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protections (DEP) has continued a drought watch across the state.
The DEP Drought Task Force says that watch declarations are not made on amount of precipitation alone. Other factors include information provided by public water suppliers, data on surface water flow, groundwater level, and soil moisture.
DEP is asking residents to reduce their nonessential water use by 5 to 10%. This includes running the dishwasher/washing machine less, setting mowing blades to 2-3 inches so grass can shade the soil, setting up a rain barrel to repurpose water, and much more.
A more comprehensive list of preemptive measures can be found on DEP’s website. The next meeting of the Drought Task Force will take place July 26th.
