Water use restrictions lifted as Beaver Run Reservoir levels return to normal

About 56,000 Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County customers are free to use water as they choose as levels at the Beaver Run Reservoir have bounced back.

The authority on Tuesday ended its voluntary conservation order, days after the state lifted its drought watch for the county.

The reservoir stood at 1,041.7 feet above sea level Tuesday, said spokesperson Matt Junker.

“Every drop counts and to the extent that (customers) were able to conserve … that helped the reservoir recover,” he said.

Customers affected, including those served by systems in Plum, Monroeville, Parks and Gilpin that are supplied water from the reservoir, were notified Tuesday that voluntary conservation was no longer necessary. They were first asked in mid-November to voluntarily reduce water consumption and the state Department of Environmental Protection on Dec. 1 declared a drought watch.

Mandatory conservation measures for MAWC customers north of Route 30 started Dec. 18 when water levels dipped below 1,033 feet above sea level. Customers were asked to reduce consumption by 10%. During the conservation measures, the authority pulled more water from its treatment plant near Connellsville and halted local energy companies from using water from the reservoir for fracking. The reservoir straddles Bell and Washington townships.

MAWC Manager Michael Kukura said Tuesday the fracking water ban remains in place at Beaver Run.

“We have not made a decision on whether to lift it. We are still talking about it and we expect to have a decision by the end of the week,” Kukura said.

Precipitation levels for 2023 were far below the average, making it the driest year to date since 2002. MAWC pointed to a lack of precipitation as the reason water levels had decreased.

The reservoir’s lowest point was 1,032.2 feet above sea level on Jan. 9. Since then, significant precipitation has helped the levels rebound, Junker said.

In January, there was 5.29 inches of precipitation and the water rose to 1,038.8 feet above sea level by Feb. 1, he said. The mandatory conservation order was lifted Jan. 29.

Precipitation on Thursday and Sunday totaled nearly 2.5 inches, allowing the authority to fully lift the conservation order, Junker said. The reservoir level March 1 was 1,038.2 feet above sea level.

“We would always prefer to have snow pack, but we did have some pretty good rains in the past few days,” he said.