24 counties on state’s drought warning list
http://www.tnonline.com/node/134746
Reported on Friday, September 17, 2010
24 counties on state’s drought warning list
Pennsylvania environmental officials have put 24 counties including Carbon, Schuylkill, Northampton and Monroe under a drought warning and the rest of the state under a drought watch.
Meager rainfall and high temperatures prompted the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to issue the warnings Thursday. DEP Secretary John Hanger says a hot, dry summer has led to steadily declining ground and surface water levels.
A drought warning asks residents to voluntarily reduce water use by 10-15 percent.
DEP said rainfall deficits over the past 90 days are currently as great as 5.6 inches below normal in Somerset County and 5.5 inches in Bucks County.
Other counties under a drought warning include Philadelphia, Allegheny, Lehigh, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Bucks, Montgomery and Washington.
A drought watch is the lowest of three advisory levels and a drought warning is the second-most severe condition. No counties in the state are under a drought emergency.
DEP is sending letters to all water suppliers statewide, notifying them of the need to monitor their supplies and update their drought contingency plans as necessary. It monitors a statewide network of groundwater wells and stream gauges that provide comprehensive data to the state drought coordinator.
DEP offers the following tips for conserving water around the home:
Ÿ Install low-flow plumbing fixtures and aerators on faucets
Ÿ Check for household leaks a leaking toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water a day
Ÿ Take short showers instead of baths. Kitchen/laundry areas
Ÿ Replace older appliances with high efficiency, front-loading models that use about 30 percent less water and 40-50 percent less energy
Ÿ Run dishwashers and washing machines only with full loads
Ÿ Keep water in the refrigerator to avoid running water from a faucet until it is cold.
The department also offers water conservation recommendations for commercial and industrial users, such as food processors, hotels and motels, schools and colleges, as well as water audit procedures for large water customers. Water conservation tips and drought information can be found online at www.depweb.state.pa.us, keyword: drought.
Penn State researchers ‘whet’ teen students’ interest in water cycle
http://live.psu.edu/story/47937/nw69
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Penn State researchers ‘whet’ teen students’ interest in water cycle
Photo by Margaret Hopkins In Pun, a rising ninth grader at State College Area High School, gets help from George Holmes, Penn State graduate student in civil engineering, on how to read an electronic water-level sensor. For more photos from the Stone Valley streambed ‘lab,’ click on the image above.
University Park. — A dry streambed in a small wooded valley near Penn State’s Stone Valley Recreation Area became a “living” laboratory Wednesday (Aug. 18) for a group of State College Area High School students getting an early taste of earth science.
Using soil moisture probes and water-level sensors, the teens sampled 16 sites to determine the depth of the water table and the moisture content along a streambed that was so dry in parts that it was almost dusty. The laboratory was the 20-acre Shale Hills watershed in the Penn State Stone Valley Experimental Forest in Huntingdon County.
Instructing the students was Chris Duffy, Penn State professor of civil engineering, who is the lead researcher in the NSF-sponsored Susquehanna Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory (CZO). Critical Zone science explores the complex physical chemical and biological processes that shape and transform the life-sustaining Critical Zone stretching from the top of vegetation to the bottom of groundwater.
Researchers in three Penn State colleges, Engineering, Earth and Mineral Sciences and Agricultural Sciences, are involved in examining water flow patterns and rates as it moves through the subsurface of the Shale Hills watershed.
A new initiative for the State College Area School District, the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) academy is emphasizing hands-on activities with students building instruments, conducting experiments and analyzing data.
“When kids see and do hand-on things, they remember it far better than being told what it is and how it works,” said Wendy Watts, who teaches physics in the school district and who also took a turn measuring soil moisture with the students.
The students’ measurements confirmed their hypotheses: Soil on the banks of the stream was drier than the soil in the streambed, and soils are drier closer to stream headwaters.
“Doing experiments and seeing how it works in person helps me learn it better,” said 14-year old In Pun, one of the 10 students in the State College Area School District’s week long STEM Summer Academy. “I’m really understanding how the water cycle works and how everything affects it.”
Amer Sible, 14, said, “This helps me make connections between the everyday things you see and the science behind them.”
Dave Klindienst, the district STEM coordinator, said the district is looking to build more collaborations with Penn State, a goal that also fits well with Duffy.
“If we want to move Critical Zone Observatories forward as a national network, we need education at the K-12 level in the mix,” Duffy said. “Today was an opportunity for students to learn about ecology, geology and hydrology with mentors.”
Drought conditions in Carbon County, PA
http://www.tnonline.com/node/114155
Drought conditions in Carbon
Reported on Thursday, July 8, 2010
By AMY ZUBEK azubek@tnonline.com
With much of the northeast experiencing scorching temperatures, high humidity and little to no precipitation, Carbon County is among the growing number of counties that have been placed on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s drought list.
Mark Nalesnik, the Carbon County Emergency Management Agency director, released an updated drought map from DEP yesterday.
According to the composite indicator map, dated July 6, numerous counties throughout the eastern portion of the state are in a drought watch or warning. Carbon County is listed in a drought watch.
A drought watch declaration is the first level and least severe of the state’s three drought classifications. It calls for a voluntary 5 percent reduction in non-essential water use. The classifications are dependent on four indicators, including precipitation deficits, surface water levels, groundwater levels and soil moisture. Drought watch conditions begin to occur when a deficit of 25 percent of the normal precipitation happens over a three-month period. Drought warning conditions occur when a deficit of 35 percent is recorded and drought emergency conditions begin to happen when a deficit of 45 percent is recorded.
Nalesnik recommends that Carbon County residents try to conserve water, if possible, until the drought situation improves.
He noted that there are three burn bans currently in place in the county. They include Mahoning Township, Bowmanstown and Lower Towamensing Township.
“I strongly recommend not burning trash or having camp fires at this time,” Nalesnik said. “Since water supplies may become limited, I am concerned about water shortages for firefighting, so please avoid unnecessary use of water and do not be careless with fires.”
Carbon County Commissioner Wayne Nothstein echoes Nalesnik’s thoughts.
“I would strongly urge residents to start to conserve water, especially those on wells. Even if we do get some showers this week it will not be enough to get us out of the watch,” said Nothstein.
“We have been watching the situation and will continue to monitor rainfall events and act accordingly.”
He also suggests that all water authorities and suppliers review their contingency plans and update them as needed.
Nothstein added that he is anticipating calling a meeting for Carbon County’s Drought Task Force, a group the county reorganized in 2007, when Carbon County was classified in a drought watch.
The group looks at the water resources in the area to determine the severity of the drought in the county.
This includes seeing how many wells have gone dry and how far they would have to drill to reach the water table.
It also includes watching the river, creeks, lakes and dam levels.
In times of a drought watch, area residents can help conserve water by taking shorter showers, washing only full loads of laundry, watering lawns and gardens only when it is necessary and using water sparingly during daily routines.
PA Groundwater Recharge Information Available in User-Friendly Report
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pa-groundwater-recharge-information-available-in-user-friendly-report-89393997.html
PA Groundwater Recharge Information Available in User-Friendly Report
HARRISBURG, Pa., March 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The month of April is known for rain showers, but a new Pennsylvania Geological Survey report says that the state’s groundwater actually recharges the most during March.
The report, “Summary of Groundwater-Recharge Estimates for Pennsylvania,” was done in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey and is available on the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Web site at www.dcnr.state.pa.us/topogeo/.
“This report is a convenient source of groundwater recharge data for researchers, water resource managers, water scientists and geologists. It provides a general overview of processes affecting groundwater recharge in Pennsylvania and a discussion of estimates of recharge rates,” said Jay Parrish, the state geologist with DNCR. “It’s also a great educational resource because it shows where all of the water that falls from the sky goes.”
Recharge occurs when water reaches underground aquifers. It is typically estimated by measuring factors including precipitation and stream flow.
Areas that receive the most recharge are typically those that get the most rainfall, have favorable surface conditions for infiltration, and are less susceptible to the influences of high temperatures, evaporation and loss through vegetation.
Maps included in the report illustrate patterns of precipitation, temperature, prevailing winds, and the average error associated with recharge estimates.
In an average year, about 40 inches of precipitation – the rough equivalent of 31.5 trillion gallons of water — falls in Pennsylvania. Only about 31 percent of rainfall is absorbed by the land to become groundwater. Of the rest, 52 percent evaporates and 17 percent becomes runoff into rivers and streams.
Eighty percent of Pennsylvania’s recharge occurs from November to May, with approximately 18.4 percent coming in March followed by nearly 13 percent in April.
For more information about geology in Pennsylvania, visit the DCNR Web site at www.dcnr.state.pa.us and choose “Geology” at the bottom, or call 717-702-2073.
Media contact: Christina Novak, 717-772-9101
SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us