Lehigh County\u2019s water and wastewater utility declared a drought watch Friday, and called on its customers to voluntarily cut their water usage by at least 5%.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not facing an immediate water shortage, but current conditions call for early, thoughtful action,\u201d Liesel Gross, Lehigh County Authority CEO, said in a new release. \u201cA small reduction of just 5% across our system can make a meaningful difference in preserving supply, maintaining system pressure, and ensuring reliable service all customers.\u201d<\/p>\n
As of Thursday, the U.S. Drought Monitor<\/a> considers all of Northampton County and most of Lehigh County to be experiencing moderate drought conditions. Less than an inch of rain has fallen this month in the Lehigh Valley, following a similarly extended dry period, according to weather service data<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Lehigh County Authority said its water system remains safe and reliable, but the lack of rain means groundwater aquifers are slow to recharge, and stream flow has been reduced.<\/p>\n A drought watch is a \u201cproactive, precautionary measure\u201d designed to \u201cslow demand and protect long-term water availability if dry conditions continue,\u201d according to the news release. The authority is not imposing mandatory conditions at this time.<\/p>\n The LCA is asking customers to:<\/p>\n Limit lawn watering and irrigation as plants enter dormancy The Lehigh County Authority provides water and wastewater services to approximately 270,000 people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lehigh County\u2019s water and wastewater utility declared a drought watch Friday, and called on its customers to voluntarily…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41032,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,202,433,182,139,28,432,1133],"class_list":{"0":"post-41031","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news","11":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","12":"tag-lehigh-county","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-pennsylvania","16":"tag-top-stories-tmc","17":"tag-weather"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nFix dripping faucets, running toilets and sprinkler leaks
\nShut off the water supply to outside spigots if no longer in use
\nRun dishwashers and washing machines only with full loads
\nTake shorter showers and turn off the tap while brushing teeth
\nUse a commercial car wash that recycles water, instead of washing at home<\/p>\n