Screenshot from USGS drought condition monitoring Clinton County has been moved to a drought warning. The radial dial in shows that Clinton County is under drought conditions for surfacewater and 90-day precipitation indicators. These factors are not the only considerations used for drought advisories, per DEP.

Screenshot from USGS drought condition monitoring
One of the four considerations on the statewide map is shown for Clinton County. This chart shows Clinton County’s actual precipitation, marked in red in the left-hand column. The grey column next to it shows the normal precipitation for the period of time marked at the bottom of the graph, labeled Days Prior to Today. Note that the last 90 days have been below-average — and that the dry spring was not balanced out by the excess rainfall this summer.

LOCK HAVEN — Clinton County has been upgraded to drought warning status as the region continues to see less than average precipitation.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has announced, after a meeting of the Commonwealth Drought Task Force, that a drought watch will continue for 13 counties. Westmoreland County is also being added to the drought watch list. Clinton County has been moved to drought warning.

The decision to move Clinton County to drought warning and Westmoreland County to drought watch will support the efforts of water suppliers and their customers to conserve water.

The city of Lock Haven declared a water emergency in October, and has been attempting to prepare alternate water sources should the reservoirs prove insufficient.

When Mayor Joel Long first signed the Declaration of Emergency in October, customers were asked to reduce water consumption by 20 percent. A notice at the time was sent out to customers for both Suburban Water Authority and the city.

According to Mark Glenn’s numbers, presented at a city council meeting in November, customer usage has been reduced by 7.5 percent, or just under three million gallons per day.

Residents on drought warning are asked to reduce their individual water use by 10 to 15 percent, or a reduction of six to nine gallons of water per day. Varying localized conditions may lead water suppliers or municipalities to ask residents for more stringent conservation actions.

DEP suggests the following as proven ways to conserve water at home:

–Run the dishwasher and washing machine less often, and only with full loads.

–Shorten the time you let the water run to warm up before showering and take shorter showers. The shower and toilet are the two biggest indoor water guzzlers.

–Check for and repair household leaks. For example, a leaking toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water daily.

–Install low-flow plumbing fixtures and aerators on faucets.

–Replace older appliances with high-efficiency, front-loading models that use about 30% less water and 40-50% less energy.

Adams, Bucks, Cameron, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Lancaster, Lebanon, Montgomery, Northampton, and Perry counties remain in drought watch. York County will remain in drought warning.

How DEP Determines Drought Conditions

To determine drought conditions, DEP assesses information from public water suppliers and data on four indicators: precipitation, surface water (stream and river) flow, groundwater level, and soil moisture.

The DEP Drought Coordinator monitors the indicators in close partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which maintains gauges in streams and wells in many locations across Pennsylvania.

There are normal ranges for all four indicators. DEP makes drought status recommendations after assessing departures from these ranges for all indicators for periods of 3-12 months.

For a map that’s updated daily to show the status of all four indicators for each county, see the USGS Pennsylvania drought condition monitoring website. One such map is pictured above.

DEP shares these data and its recommendations with the state and federal agencies and other organizations that make up the Commonwealth Drought Task Force. Declarations are determined by DEP, with the concurrence of the task force.

Clinton County does not have a station for climatological data on weather.gov, however the data for the Williamsport station is illustrative: since September 1 of this year, Williamsport should have received, by recorded average, 11.71 inches of rain. Instead, they have received 7.15 inches of rain — a departure of 4.56 inches, or over one-third of what is necessary.

The forecast is not looking particularly helpful, either. Despite some rain moving through Friday and Sunday, no further rain is expected for a week, beyond the chance for a stray shower on Tuesday.

Next Sunday is currently showing a fairly notable rain system on Accuweather’s extended forecast, with up to an inch of rainfall currently expected.

After that, however, there is less than three-quarters of an inch of precipitation expected, combined, through the end of the year — almost three weeks.