From staff reports
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has declared a statewide drought watch.
While not required, the DEP is encouraging residents and businesses to voluntarily conserve water by reducing their non-essential water use.
“Although this week has brought some welcome rain to much of the state, it’s not enough to make up for the lack of rainfall this spring, following a winter that brought little snowfall in many areas,” said DEP acting secretary Rich Negrin.
Residents and businesses are encouraged to reduce their non-essential water use by 5–10 percent.
“Risks and volatility in farming are weather-related more than in any other business,” Agriculture secretary Russell Redding said. “Pennsylvania’s beneficial natural average rainfall has been upended by weather extremes and unpredictability in recent years. This year is no exception, with more than 90 percent of the topsoil across the state either short or very short in moisture content in the past week,” Redding added.
And the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is urging Pennsylvanians to be aware of increased fire risk.
Low precipitation has dramatically increased the number of wildfires in Pennsylvania this year. There have already been 1,400 wildfires reported statewide so far in 2023, compared to 1,036 in all of 2022.
This year’s wildfires have burned more than 8,500 acres, compared to 2,700 acres in 2022.
