Drought Information

The Commonwealth Drought Coordinator manages drought-related activities and monitors drought conditions statewide. Drought watch and warning declarations are determined by the Coordinator and other DEP staff, with support of the Drought Task Force. Drought emergency declarations follow a similar process and are given final approval by the Governor.

Pennsylvania drought condition monitoring indicators provided by the U.S. Geological Survey can be found here.

Drought declarations aren't based on one indicator alone. DEP makes drought watch, warning, or emergency declaration recommendations based on four numeric indicators: stream flow, groundwater level, precipitation, and soil moisture. There are normal ranges for all four indicators. DEP makes its drought declarations after assessing the departures from these normal ranges for periods of 3-12 months. DEP also factors in information it receives from public water suppliers.

After the June 9, 2025, meeting of the Commonwealth Drought Task Force, a drought watch has been lifted for twenty-one counties but remains in place for seven counties. Additionally, one county improved from drought warning to watch.

Adams, Allegheny, Bucks, Carbon, Columbia, Dauphin, Fayette, Greene, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Luzerne, Montgomery, Monroe, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Pike, Schuylkill, and York Counties returned to normal status.

Chester, Cumberland, Delaware, Franklin, Lehigh, Philadelphia and Washington Counties remain in drought watch.   Berks County’s status improved from drought warning to watch status. 

The eight counties that remain in drought watch are still seeing groundwater levels that have not returned to normal levels for this time of year, based on long-term monitoring of observation wells. The slow recovery of the groundwater levels is largely due to the significant drought conditions in late 2024, which were some of the driest on record since 2002.  Additionally, areas with certain types of geology can take longer for water to move through the ground to enter groundwater and raise well levels.  These two factors explain why some counties remain in drought watch even though we have received above average rainfall in May of 2025.  Green grass and streams flowing at normal or above average rates don’t always mean groundwater has recovered.  This is why DEP uses multiple measures when making a recommendation to change a counties drought status.

Residents on drought watch are encouraged, but not required, to voluntarily reduce their water use by five to ten percent.

Residents should always pay attention to any information they receive from their local water supplier.   Varying localized conditions may lead water suppliers or municipalities to ask residents for more stringent conservation actions.

See the list below for current conservation measures applied by public water suppliers as well as some water conservation tips.

• Pennsylvania Declares Drought Conditions in 35 Counties 11/1/24
• Drought Watch/Warning Lifted for 8 Counties, All counties now back to Normal Status 3/6/24
• Drought Watch Lifted for Eight Counties, Six Counties in Drought Watch, Two Counties Remain in Drought Warning 1/26/24

Contact

Jason Minnich
Commonwealth Drought Coordinator

Questions from media: Email ra-epnews@pa.gov
Questions from all others:
Phone: 717-772-4048
Email: droughtinfo@pa.gov

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