A26-L«neister Firming, Saturday, April 8,1989
‘B9 Water
(Continued from Pago A 1)
more stressed if a 1989 drought
occurs,” said ASCS State Execu
tive Director Don Unangst open
ing Monday’s meeting. “There are
steps we can take to be better pre
pared for a drought and that’s why
we are here today.”
The soil moisture level of early
spring is misleading. It will be
absorbed by spring and summer
vegetation and the wet spring soil
will turn quickly dry. Pennsylvani
a is between a drought watch and
drought warning. There are
drought restrictions on the Dela
ware River Basin. Reservoirs are
extremely low and much depends
on precipitation in the summer
months.
Dry conditions began in the fall
of 1987 and have persisted which
has created a serious water prob
lem. Rainfall is generally 8“ to 10“
below normal and in some areas
12“ below normal in the Susque
hanna and Lehigh River Basins.
The Delaware River Basin is 15“
below normal,” said Chet Henrick
sen, meteorologist-in-charge in
Philadelphia for the National
Weather Service, “and it is not
going to be made up with a few
inches of rain.”
The 3“ to 6“ of rainfall in March
went mostly to the southwestern
Pennsylvania with little falling in
the upper Delaware and Susque
hanna River Basins.
“I feel I can say with some accu
racy that this summer is not going
to be like last summer, but the long
term forecast is calling for below
normal rainfall. We will probably
see a wet spring and a long dry
spell, but not an extremely dry
spell as we saw last summer,” said
Henricksen.
But while farmers’ may cut their
crop losses in the field this year,
the drought problem goes beyond
the surface. Soil and crops are the
first beneficiaries of rain. They
quickly absorb the moisture and
prevent water from passing
through the soil to replenish the
water table. A green, flourishing
crop in the field can be deceiving.
“I think we will see precipitation
more spread out this year which
will benefit farmers, but the table
level is falling and could well work
down and become a well-water
problem for homeowners and far
mers,” said Henricksen.
Water Shortage Imminent
There will be a water shortage in
1989, according John McSparran,
Director of Bureau Water Resour
ces Management. In the western
portion of the state precipitation is
close to normal. But the serious
drought which affected western
Pennsylvania in the previous years
has now shifted to the east.
“Wells are much lower than nor
mal throughout Pennsylvania, if
your well has a tendency to go dry,
this will probably be the year for
it,” said McSparran.
“The drought was very intense
in October of 1987. The first real
relief came at the end of October
and November of 1988,”
explained McSparran. “But
December and January and Febru
ary were low precipitation months.
The areas which drain into the
New York City reservoirs had the
lowest amounts of precipation ever
recorded in these three months
since the 1965 drought.”
There are three stages to the
drought plan : drought watch,
drought warning and drought
emergency and the Delaware Riv
er Basin Commission came within
a whisker of declaring a drought
emergency on March 24, 1989.
There are three reservoirs which
Shortage
supply half of New York City’s
water needs. These reservoirs are
extremely important to the Dela
ware River Basin.
As the flow drops in the Dela
ware River Basin, salt water
advances farther inland into the
fresh water supply. In 1965 the
reservoirs went empty. Sixty per
cent of the flow of the DRB is
made up from these three reser
voirs. When the flow is not there
the salt water fills in the gap. In
1965 there was no upstream stor
age to release and fight back the
ocean. Since that time a plan has
been established to prevent that
from recurring.
“When the reservoirs get low we
cut back and conserve. On March
24 the reservoir storage dropped to
the level signaling a drought
emergency for one day, but rains
on that day brought the level up
again. But the reservoir is only 10
million gallons above the
emergency line. That is one-month
away from a drought emergency,”
said McSparran.
Normal monthly rainfall for the
DRB area is four inches. Accord
ing to McSparran, 2“ of rain will
bring the DRB to 15 million gal
lons and another two inches will
bring it up to normal stage, but it
takes two inches just to supply the
needs of New York City.
“Unless we have an above aver
age rainfall, we won’t get much
above where we are now,” said
McSparran.
The Pennsylvania ground water
situation could be in for some
problems. According to McSpar
ran, Pennsylvania has more wells
than any other state; 1 million.
“You can see that with just 1/2
of one percent going dry that we
would have a lot of dry wells and a
serious problem,” said McSparran.
At the present time there are no
restrictions in the basin. If Pen
nsylvania declares a drought
FARMERS, CHURCHES, SCHOOLS, PARKS, TOWNSHIPS, INDUSTRIES
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emergency all non-essential water
uses would, be banned as,
watering lawns and golf courses,-
washing cars and filling pools. In
Pennsylvania alone a ban on
watering lawns an golf courses
would conserve 100 million gal
lons of water each day.
The most critical areas have
received below normal rainfall for
the past seven months:
Lackawanna County a 10“
rainfall deficit.
Tioga, Monroe, Carbon, Schuy
lkill, Susquehanna counties an
8“ rainfall deficit
Lebanon, Northhampton, Pike,
Wayne, Bradford, Potter, Came
ron, counties a 6“ rainfall
deficit.
Lycoming, Bucks, Berks, are
nearing the critical list, too.
These areas are likely to feel the
most stress from drought. Ground
water is on the rise in the west and
south of the turnpike, but east of
Centre county and north of the
turnpike groundwater levels are
dropping. '
In these areas in recent weeks
stream flow is only 30 percent of
normal and with the recent rains it
is still only about average and the
reservoirs are not filling up.
“We depend on our frozen
assets to bring up the reservoirs
and streams, but the snows weren’t
there this year,” explained
McSparran. “We will see unusual
ly low streams and a lot of dry
streams and springs this year.
Melting snows feed springs and
without those snows those springs
may also go dry. It could very well
affect the home water situation and
livestock watering.”
“All we can do is hope for April
rain to turn that around,” said
McSparran.
New York City reservoirs are
about half-full. The reservoir in
Scranton is 60% of normal level;
Hazelton is 70 percent of normal
capacity and the reservoir at Beth
lehem is at 70 percent capacity.
The Harrisurg reservoir is not full
either.
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“We are now reaching the point
where thare is just ft remptechance
"of refillmg,’* said McSpafran. “It
might come up in April or May,
but we are not in a good situatioil
right now from a water supply
siturtiori.”
Plan Now To Cut Losses
Farmers can cut their losses in a
drought by employing what they
know about weather, soil, crops
and management and understand
ing their options and limitations,
according to Elwood Hatley, from
Penn State Extension.
There’s no certainty about the
weather only probability. And it
will probably be hot and dry in July
and August The water holding
capabilities of soil depends on its
texture, depth, structure. This
knowledge comes from experi
ence, Hatley stressed, and records.
Also, farmers need to consider
the ability of some plants to with
stand stress. Plants are most sensi
tive to drought conditions during
their reproductive stages. Farmers
need to understand when plants are
most susceptible to drought and
then make their plans for planting.
For example, com leaf curling is
a defense mechanism to retain
moisture while on the other hand
sorghum actually stops its growth
as a defense mechanism.
“Com has a two-week period
where it is ultra-sensitive to any
new environmental stress and this
occurs at tassle emergence and
silking,” explained Hatley. “Com
can lose 50 to 60 percent of its
potential yield depending upon
conditions at tassle emergence
time.”
Soybean has the same sensitivi
ty .at flowering time, but is spread
over a 6-week period. But it
adjusts as climactic conditions
change. The soybean crop was
saved last year by the July 20 rain
which came through. Spring oats
and barley reproduce 60 days after
emergence. Hatley advises far
mers to plant early have the grain
reproduce in mid-May or or early
June before extreme heat and dry
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conditions are likely to occur.
Com enters its reproductive stage
S 5 to 60 day£ after emergence.
“You may want to switch crops
if your fields are drought prone.
But you’ve got to put together the
information you have collected on
weather, soil, plants and combine
that with good management to
reduce risk by making the right
choices at the right time,” said
Hatley.
Feed Alternatives
Feeding livestock, especially
dairy animals, demands some
creativity from the dairyman. As a
result of the ’BB drought, feed
reserves are down in the U.S.. The
world grain situation looks good,
but that" may mean a higher feed
bill. Richard Adams from Penn
State Extension urges farmers to
investigate alternatives now.
The outlook for the milk price is
not good, according to Adams.
Atleast a $l.OO will disappear by
June and more farmers will be feel
ing the pinch more criticaly than
they did a year ago. How can far
mers protect against losses?
Adams recommends a wise use
of concentrates according to price
shifts in concentrates, forage, grain
and milk. Feed rates should be
changed, too, to stay within rea
sonable costs. Farmers may want
to go to an individual ingredient
instead of a total mixed ration.
Other recommendations:
--reduce protein intakes on
many animals and save money
without sacrificing production.
--Supply forage needs with
alternative, affordable substitutes.
Buying a lot of forage is costly. It is
better for the farmer to meet forage
needs with what he has at his dis
posal.
-Align feed supplies, don’t stay
heavy with one feedstuff.
-Pasture can also help stretch
feed dollars.
-Use paper shredded for bed
ding animals and save your straw
for forage. According to Adams, it
is approved by the FDA and con-
(Turn to Pag* A2B)