How Does The Drought Emergency Affect You?

We all know much of the northeastern United States is in a severe drought condition, but how much do we know about the impact of the drought emergencies and water restrictions that have been imposed in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania? Each state environmental agency has a web page dedicated to the drought that contains a wealth of information about drought conditions as well as restrictions that apply to homeowners and businesses.  A brief description of each state’s site follows: Delaware – www.dnrec.delaware.gov Included on this site is the Governor’s Executive Order declaring the drought emergency and a summary of water conditions in Delaware.  There are also links to the Delaware Geological Survey, the Delaware River Basin Commission and real-time stream flow information. Maryland – www.mde.state.md.us/drought/default.asp Included on this site is the Governor’s Executive Order declaring a drought emergency, as well as the Level One Mandatory Restrictions that have been imposed on much of central Maryland.  There is also the state drought hotline telephone number and links to a number of other drought information sources. New Jersey – www.state.nj.us/dep/drought/ Included on this site is the Governor’s declaration of a statewide drought emergency, as well as information on the mandatory water restrictions that have been imposed.  The site includes the state drought hotline telephone number and links to a number of other state drought information sources. Pennsylvania – http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/subject/hotopics/drought/ Included on this site is the Governor’s 24 county drought emergency declaration, as well as the water restriction regulations that have been imposed in those counties.  There is also the state drought hotline telephone number and links to more drought information.  If you have the bandwidth, there is a link to a streaming video of the state videoconference that discusses the drought. Each of these sites has suggestions for conserving water, aimed primarily at the homeowner, but also applicable to businesses. The Pennsylvania site includes forms that can be used by businesses to develop drought contingency plans. We, as EHS professionals and concerned citizens should be doing our part to help alleviate the drought emergency and to educate our friends and neighbors. Visit these sites, download the restriction information and share it. Only through a concerted effort by all (and the help of lots of rain!) can our environment be helped to cope with the drought. Number 20