UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- As the drought of 2001-2002 worsens, a water resources extension specialist in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences worries that people are not taking a critical situation seriously.

"So far, this has been an invisible drought," says Bryan Swistock. "It has been a water supply drought -- in much of Pennsylvania, the really dry weather started last fall after the growing season was over. Wells are going dry across the state. In many places, we have a groundwater crisis. But they can't see groundwater, so most people aren't concerned.

"People really need to begin conserving water," he adds. "Groundwater levels are so low that a rainstorm or two won't make much of a difference. But rain changes people's perception. Even if the rain makes no difference in the water situation, people let down their guard. That's the biggest hurdle we face -- people no longer take drought seriously."

Gov. Schweiker last week declared a drought emergency for 24 counties: Adams, Bedford, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Chester, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Franklin, Fulton, Huntingdon, Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry, Philadelphia, Pike, Schuylkill, Wayne and York.

Seven other counties remain in a drought warning, and 31 counties are under a drought watch. Counties under a drought warning: Columbia, Juniata, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union.

Counties are under a drought watch: Armstrong, Blair, Bradford, Butler, Cambria, Cameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Crawford, Elk, Erie, Fayette, Forest, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Potter, Somerset, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Venango, Warren and Wyoming.

Swistock points out that groundwater levels under much of the state never recovered from the drought of 1999. "Unless we get considerably more than average precipitation in a short time -- between now and early May -- this drought will be worse on a water-supply basis than the drought of '99," he says.

Typically groundwater recharge slows or stops from May to September when growing plants take up most available water. So groundwater does not recharge in summer. Groundwater usually does not recharge in winter because the ground is frozen, preventing precipitation from soaking in.

"Of course late-winter snows would ease the situation," Swistock says. "Snow melts slowly and recharges the groundwater. There's hope because in recent years, February and March have been our biggest snow months. But if we don't have a wet spring, we are going to be in trouble."

Swistock fears the worst. "We have been in a pretty long pattern of dry weather," he says. "We seem to have been in this pattern since last summer. In some parts of the state, it has been abnormally dry since 1999. Until that pattern starts to break down, I have a really bad feeling about this drought. We need above-average amounts of precipitation."

The benefits of "average levels" of precipitation are hard to quantify, because a cloudburst dumping a lot of rainfall that runs off quickly is not as beneficial as a long, soaking rain. So, according to Swistock, a 2-inch rainfall over two hours is not nearly as good as a 2-inch rain that falls over two days.

In Pennsylvania, average precipitation over the year averages to just over 3 inches a month. "But my sense is that we will need considerably more than that to end this drought," he says. "There won't be a quick release from this."

Swistock offers these suggestions to save water:

--Replacing an old toilet with a new 1.6 gallon-per-flush model could save a typical household from 7,900 to 21,700 gallons of water per year;

--Placing a plastic jug filled with water or small rocks in older toilet tanks can cut down on the amount of water needed for each flush and save more than 1,000 gallons per year;

--Repairing dripping faucets and leaking toilets (flapper valves are usually the cause) can save more than 10 gallons of water per person per day. A faucet dripping at one drop per second wastes 2,700 gallons per year;

--Wash clothes and dishes only when you have a full load. When replacing an older machine, consider high-efficiency models, which use an average of 30 percent less water and 40 percent to 50 percent less energy, saving about nine gallons per washing machine cycle and 7.5 gallons per dishwasher cycle;

--Installing a water-efficient showerhead can save one to 7.5 gallons per minute. Taking a quick shower can save an average of 20 gallons of water.

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EDITORS: Contact Bryan Swistock at 814-863-0194 or e-mail brs@psu.edu.

Contact:

Jeff Mulhollem jjm29@psu.edu 814-863-2719 814-865-1068 fax