HAZLETON, Pa. — A Drought Contingency Plan is now in effect for the city of Hazleton, after the water authority announced its reservoirs are below the recommended level.
Scott Burkhardt is the director of the Hazleton City Water Authority. He says, "Stage 1 of our voluntary 25% reduction in non-essential water use, that [means] we reach out to all our customers to try and help get us by and conserve water."
Burkhardt says the lack of rain in recent months led to the drought. He is asking customers to conserve water by taking shorter showers and not watering your lawn until the reservoirs fill up again.
"Some of our west side sources have you know pretty much dried up. Some of our wells we only get an hour of run time out of some of our wells. The reservoir levels are down below 50% on the westside," Burkhardt says.
The water authority sent out notices to top commercial consumers asking companies to use less water during the stage 1 voluntary period in hopes that the city will not reach stage 2 of the drought contingency plan. Stage two means a mandatory 25% reduction in water use.
"So, we'll be looking into everyone's account and watching and monitoring everyone's account and then, hopefully, we don't get to stage 3," he says.
Ana Polanco, a loyal Hazleton City Water Authority customer is urging her neighbors to unite and conserve until the next substantial rain.
"We as a customer, we have to chip in. We have to do our job. You know conserve the water, wash a full load of laundry. Make sure you don't leave the water running for a long time," Polanco says.
You can find more information on Hazleton's Drought Contingency Plan by clicking here.