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Partly cloudy. High 79F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..
Mainly cloudy. Low 63F. Winds light and variable.
This map shows the eastern portion of Pennsylvania is under a drought watch.
This map shows the eastern portion of Pennsylvania is under a drought watch.
The Department of Environmental Protection on Wednesday declared a drought watch for 36 counties in Pennsylvania, including McKean, Cameron and Potter counties.
“A few counties have experienced very dry conditions over the summer, and a number of others have inched into increasingly dry conditions in recent weeks. We’re asking Pennsylvanians in all of these counties to use water wisely and follow simple water conservation tips to ease the demand for water,” said DEP Acting Secretary Ramez Ziadeh.
The Commonwealth Drought Task Force is asking for voluntary water conservation in each of the impacted areas. In addition, Galeton Borough Water Authority in Potter County is requiring residents to reduce water use, while Driftwood Borough in Cameron County is asking residents to voluntarily reduce their water use.
While the Bradford City Water Authority has not asked for reductions at this time, Executive Director Steve Disney explained, “The conservation steps outlined by DEP are their standard guidelines and are good practices to follow even during periods in which we aren’t under drought watches.”
He continued, “Normally this area has ample precipitation, unlike other parts of the country, so we’re not used to conservation guidelines which are in place across those other drought stricken areas.”
This year, however, there have been signs that this area may have cause for concern.
“The Authority is continuing to closely monitor reservoir levels and is mindful of the fact we have had less precipitation than normal,” Disney said. “The Heffner reservoir is 3.5 feet below the full pool level and falling, which means it is 3.5 feet below the spillway. The Heffner reservoir is dropping about 1-inch per day.”
It’s enough of a change that it’s making a difference at the water treatment plant.
“The drinking water treatment plant operators have noticed some early indicators of low head pressure coming into the plant due to the lower water reservoir levels,” Disney explained. “As of this week, we have activated one of our raw water pumps which will bring additional raw water supply to the treatment plant from the Marilla reservoir, this is to help supplement the supply pulled from Heffner.”
He clarified that the situation isn’t bad, but does bear watching.
“Fortunately the levels have not dropped low enough to require activation of our large raw water supply pump at the treatment plant, which boosts the water pressure into the plant to allow appropriate treatment and filtration to occur, but if conditions continue to worsen, that pump will need to be placed into operation,” he said. “Under normal conditions, the Heffner reservoir water level is sufficient for a gravity feed into the plant, the lower the reservoir level, the lower the head pressure coming into the plant. Eventually gravity alone falls short to supply the plant, thus the need to boost those pressures with a pump.”
Disney explained there was a situation a few years ago which ended up being more serious.
“In comparison, in 2020 the Heffner reservoir reached over 11 feet below the normal full level (below the spillway) and the large booster pump to supply raw water into the plant was placed into operation for several months until the reservoir water levels recovered,” he said.
According to the DEP, residents on drought watch are asked to reduce their individual water use by 5 to 10%, or a reduction of three to six gallons of water per day.
DEP is notifying all water suppliers in these counties of the need to monitor their supplies and be prepared by updating their drought contingency plans as necessary. Varying localized conditions may lead water suppliers or municipalities to ask residents for more stringent conservation actions.
There are many ways to conserve water at home, including:
Please help local businesses by taking an online survey to help us navigate through these unprecedented times. None of the responses will be shared or used for any other purpose except to better serve our community. The survey is at: www.pulsepoll.com $1,000 is being awarded. Everyone completing the survey will be able to enter a contest to Win as our way of saying, "Thank You" for your time. Thank You!
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