Drought in Pennsylvania, April 1 to 30, 2002

Eastern Pennsylvania entered April 2002 with improving weather conditions with respect to the drought, but the drought emergency remained in effect for all of Eastern Pennsylvania with mandatory watering restrictions in place. The Delaware River Basin Commission, which oversees water supply throughout the Delaware River Basin declared a "drought" on December 3, 2001 when the supply of water in the New York City reservoir system dropped below a designated level for early December. The commission declared a drought emergency on December 18, 2001. Both triggered additional reductions in the amount of water released from the reservoirs into the Delaware River and the amount diverted out of the Delaware River Basin to New York City and New Jersey. Diversions to New York City dropped from 800 million gallons a day to 520 million gallons a day. The emergency declaration gave the commission the power to restrict the amount of water suppliers could draw from the basin. It gave the commission the authority to take water from municipal reservoirs to maintain river levels. It could also call for water releases from federal, state and privately owned reservoirs. Water from Lake Nockamixon, the F.E. Walter Reservoir and Lake Wallenpaupack could be used to maintain river levels. Releases from the F.E. Walter Dam were reduced to one-third of normal to save water. They were last used for this purpose in the 1960s. The releases help protect the riverbank and aquatic life and also prevents salt water from flowing up the Delaware River. Salt water intrusion causes corrosion problems for industries and increases water treatment costs for municipalities that depend on the river for their water supply. Maintaining river levels are also important for groundwater reserves that are recharged by the river itself. On April 1st, the salt front along the Delaware River was eight miles farther upstream than its normal April position. The emergency declaration also gives the commission the power to request that utilities and other companies that use more than one million gallons of water a day to prepare contingency plans to use less water and submit the plans to the commission. In Chester County at the start of the month, 17 of the 19 monitoring wells were at drought emergency levels. Two of the wells went dry. The state of Delaware was requesting that the county hold back releases from the Marsh Creek Reservoir. Monitoring wells in Carbon County were three to ten feet below normal. In Monroe County, about 20 homeowner wells have gone dry and streams in the county were flowing at 20 percent below normal. There was water quality concerns throughout Eastern Pennsylvania as lower river levels not only would increase water temperatures but reduce water available for diluting pollutants. Conditions improved as April wore on, especially across Berks County, the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos. Below normal monthly precipitation fell across Philadelphia and its immediate suburbs. On a county weighted average in and around Philadelphia, April monthly precipitation totals ranged from 2.6 inches in Philadelphia to 3.1 inches in Bucks County. Normal is around 3.8 inches. Across Berks County, the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos on a county weighted average April monthly precipitation totals ranged from 4.2 inches in Berks County to 5.5 inches in Monroe County. Normal is around 3.7 inches. Of equal importance, April monthly rainfall was slightly wetter than normal in the New York City Delaware River watershed area in upstate New York. The New York City Reservoirs which feed the Delaware River increased from 50.2 percent of capacity on April 1st to 62.5 percent of capacity on May 1st. Normal for May 1st is 100 percent of capacity.April total monthly precipitation was 4.10 inches at the Reading Regional Airport, 3.83 inches at the Lehigh Valley International Airport and 2.17 inches at the Philadelphia International Airport.