{"id":56787,"date":"2025-12-10T01:16:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T01:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/56787\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T01:16:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T01:16:09","slug":"lehigh-county-authority-declares-drought-watch-lehigh-valley-press-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/56787\/","title":{"rendered":"Lehigh County Authority declares drought watch \u2013 Lehigh Valley Press"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Published December 09. 2025 06:04PM<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Lehigh County Authority has declared a drought watch for its service area and is asking all water customers to voluntarily reduce their water use by at least 5% in response to persistent dry conditions and below-average rainfall across the region.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">While LCA\u2019s water system remains safe and reliable, ongoing rain deficits have slowed the natural recharge of groundwater aquifers and reduced stream flow in several local watersheds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">A drought watch is a proactive, precautionary measure designed to slow demand and protect long-term water availability if dry conditions continue into the winter and early spring.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">\u201cWe are not facing an immediate water shortage, but current conditions call for early, thoughtful action,\u201d LCA\u2019s Chief Executive Officer Liesel Gross said. \u201cA small reduction of just 5% across our system can make a meaningful difference in preserving supply, maintaining system pressure and ensuring reliable service [for] all customers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">LCA customers can take simple, effective steps right away to reduce water use, including:<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">\u2022Limiting lawn watering and irrigation as plants enter dormancy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">\u2022Fixing dripping faucets, running toilets and sprinkler leaks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">\u2022Shutting off the water supply to outside spigots if no longer in use.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">\u2022Running dishwashers and washing machines only with full loads.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">\u2022Taking shorter showers and turning off the tap while brushing teeth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">\u2022Using a commercial car wash that recycles water, instead of washing at home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Outdoor water use remains a significant driver of overall demand in many areas, even late in the season and small habit changes can produce meaningful systemwide savings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">LCA will continue monitoring rainfall totals, groundwater levels and stream flows in coordination with state and regional partners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">The drought watch does not currently impose mandatory restrictions; however, additional conservation measures may be recommended or implemented if dry conditions persist.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Customers can find conservation tips and drought updates at https:\/\/www.lehighcountyauthority.org\/drinking-water\/water-supply-updates\/ or by following LCA on social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__body\">Contributed article<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published December 09. 2025 06:04PM Lehigh County Authority has declared a drought watch for its service area and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-56787","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"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56787","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=56787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}