Carbon, Schuylkill and Northampton counties are among five counties that remain on drought watch.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection announced after a meeting of the Commonwealth Drought Task Force that the drought watch has been lifted for 15 counties and remains for five counties.

Luzerne and Potter counties also remain on drought watch. The drought watch has been lifted for Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Dauphin, Juniata, Lebanon, Lycoming, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder and Union counties.

“At this time of year, it’s not as big a deal,” said Tom Kines, a senior meteorologist with AccuWeather. “There’s no vegetation to deal with.

“The evaporation rates are much, much lower this time of year. It’s much easier to get back to where we should be this time of year than in the summer.”

Kines noted that in the last few months, from Oct. 1 to where we are now, the rainfall’s been close to, and even in some cases, above normal. “So, we’re not hurting right now for precipitation,” he said. “I think as we go through the winter, any rainfall deficit that we have will certainly improve.

“When we get into these colder months, the storms that we get bring a more general rain or snow to the area, meaning that you don’t have one spot that picks up an inch of rain (and a few neighborhoods get a tenth of an inch of rain).

“In the winter, it’s more uniform; everybody gets the rains, it’s just more hit or miss than we get in the summer.

“I don’t really think it’s a big deal right now. It certainly is in the summer.”

For a map of drought declarations updated daily, see the DEP drought Web page.

What to do when in drought watch

Residents on drought watch are asked to reduce their individual water use by 5-10 percent, or a reduction of three to six gallons of water per day.

Varying localized conditions may lead water suppliers or municipalities to ask residents for more stringent conservation actions. See the list of public water suppliers that have requested or mandated water conservation in their communities.

Ways to conserve water at home

There are many ways to conserve water at home, including:

Run the dishwasher and washing machine less often, and only with full loads.

Shorten the time you let the water run to warm up before showering, and take shorter showers. The shower and toilet are the two biggest indoor water guzzlers.

Check for and repair household leaks. For example, a leaking toilet can waste up to 200 gallons of water daily.

Install low-flow plumbing fixtures and aerators on faucets.

Replace older appliances with high-efficiency, front-loading models that use about 30 percent less water and 40-50 percent less energy.

Find more tips at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

How DEP determines drought conditions

To determine drought conditions, DEP assesses information from public water suppliers and data on four indicators: precipitation, surface water (stream and river) flow, groundwater level and soil moisture.

The DEP Drought Coordinator monitors the indicators in close partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey, which maintains gauges in streams and wells in many locations across Pennsylvania.

There are normal ranges for all four indicators. DEP makes drought status recommendations after assessing departures from these ranges for all indicators for periods of 3-12 months. For a map that’s updated daily to show the status of all four indicators for each county, see the USGS Pennsylvania drought condition monitoring website.

DEP shares these data and its recommendations with the state and federal agencies and other organizations that make up the Commonwealth Drought Task Force. Declarations are determined by DEP, with the concurrence of the task force.

For more information on how DEP monitors conditions and makes drought status declarations, see the drought management fact sheet.