DEP Acting Secretary Jessica Shirley, on behalf of Governor Josh Shapiro, announced drought declarations on November 01, 2024, for 35 counties.
33 counties are under Drought Watch and 2 counties are under Drought Warning conditions.
The following is the list of counties under a drought declaration.
Drought Watch
Adams, Allegheny, Beaver, Bucks, Butler, Carbon, Chester, Clearfield, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Indiana, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Philadelphia, Pike, Somerset, Washington, Westmoreland, and York.
Drought Warning
Berks, and Schuylkill.
The declarations are in response to consistent dry conditions. Pennsylvania received very little rain over September and October, capping off a dry six months, particularly in the southeast part of the state.
We encourage you to use the DEP website for Drought Information ( https://www.dep.pa.gov/…/Pla…/Drought/Pages/default.aspx ). We post drought updates on this website regularly to keep you informed of emerging conditions. The website also either provides links to information that is useful for monitoring conditions in your area or educating your customers on various methods of conserving water. If you have a website, you may wish to consider linking directly to the Drought Information Center so your customers will have ready access to our information as well.
Remember, in a drought watch, we should all be seeking to reduce water use by about 5 percent through voluntary conservation measures. In a drought warning, we should be seeking to reduce water use by about 10-15% through voluntary conservation measures.
A drought watch or warning is not a gubernatorial emergency proclamation. Prudent use of our resources now can help to prevent, or at least delay, the need for emergency measures later.
