The water level of Bradford’s reservoirs is back to full capacity.
“December’s rainfall and wintry precipitation have turned out to be a blessing in disguise, enabling the Bradford City Water Authority to see full reservoir levels to start out the new year,” said authority Executive Director Steve Disney, describing how the weather helped raise water levels.
He noted that all temporary water conservation efforts for Bradford customers have been lifted, and “There are no restrictions on water usage at this time.”
This news only applies to Bradford’s customers, not to people who get water service from a different water provider.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection placed McKean County under a drought watch from Aug. 21 until Sept. 30, when the agency changed the drought watch to a drought warning. The drought warning has not been lifted.
Disney explained that drought designations were “due to Northwest Pennsylvania experiencing a relatively mild 2019-2020 Winter, a drier than usual Spring and an exceptionally dry/hot Summer. This resulted in water aquifer recharge rates and surface flows to be well below normal levels.”
On Tuesday, Disney announced that — for the first time since June 2020 — all three of the authority’s reservoirs are at full capacity. This includes Heffner Reservoir, “which is the largest and main water source for the authority’s system.” Heffner has a capacity of 760 million gallons.
He noted that the three upland reservoirs, with a total capacity of nearly 1.1 billion gallons, were as low as 64% of that as recently as November.
Disney said he appreciates the cooperation of customers during this time.
The DEP has not indicated when the drought warning might be lifted. The department has not updated its public drought designation map on its website since Nov. 17 — seven weeks ago.
At that time, McKean and Potter counties were under a drought warning, while Elk and Cameron counties were under a drought watch.
The DEP website did have a list of water suppliers with current non-essential water restrictions that was updated Tuesday. Water providers in the following municipalities have voluntary restrictions in place: Driftwood Borough, Ludlow and Roulette Township; while Galeton has a mandatory restriction in place.
