Recommending people to conserve water the DEP declared a statewide drought watch Thursday. Officials say water conservation is always a good practice and is especially helpful now as it’ll lessen potential future impacts on water supplies if rainfall continues to be low this summer.
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources also urged Pennsylvanians to be aware of increased fire risk. Low precipitation has dramatically increased the number of wildfires in Pennsylvania this year. There have already been 1,400 wildfires reported statewide so far in 2023, compared to 1,036 in all of 2022.