Drought in Pennsylvania, January 1 to 31, 2002

Unseasonably dry weather continued across Eastern Pennsylvania during the month of January. While precipitation totals came close to normal in and around Philadelphia, only about half of the normal monthly precipitation totals fell in the Lehigh Valley and the Poconos. On a county weighted average, monthly precipitation totals ranged from 1.6 inches in Northampton County to 3.2 inches in Delaware County. Normal is around 3.3 inches. The drought warning remained in effect for all of Eastern Pennsylvania. A drought warning calls for a 10 to 15 percent voluntary reduction in water consumption. Methods to conserve water include fixing leaking toilets and faucets, running dishwashers and washing machines at full loads only, replacing old toilets with newer ones, installing water efficient showerheads, leaving a jug of water in the refrigerator, using a bucket to wash vehicles and turning off the water while brushing teeth or shaving. The Delaware River Basin Commission, which oversees water supply throughout the Delaware River Basin declared a "drought" on December 3rd when the supply of water in the New York City reservoir system dropped below a designated level for early December. This 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 Delaware River Basin Commission declared a drought emergency on December 18th. 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. 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. The salt front along the Delaware River was farther upstream than it normally is during January. 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.