The six counties returned to normal status are Berks, Chester, Cumberland, Delaware, Lancaster and York.

Seven counties on the western edge of the state remain in drought watch, Secretary Hess said. They are Beaver, Crawford, Erie, Greene, Lawrence, Mercer and Washington.

“We have been in a real drought-buster of a weather pattern in southcentral and southeastern Pennsylvania for about the past eight weeks or so,” Secretary Hess said. “The snow we received in late November, December and January has been especially helpful because the slow melting of snow is excellent for recharging groundwater. The weather so far this winter, when it comes to precipitation, is just about the opposite of last year when the winter months were so dry.”

Gov. Schweiker first declared a drought emergency for 24 counties in southcentral and southeastern Pennsylvania on Feb. 12, 2002. The emergency list was trimmed several times during the year until Gov. Schweiker dropped the final three counties from drought emergency in December.

Of the state’s 67 counties, only a dozen escaped being in a drought emergency, drought warning or drought watch at some point after Feb. 12 of last year.

A drought emergency, the third and most severe stage of the three drought levels, imposes mandatory restrictions on non-essential water use and can only be declared by the Governor. A drought warning, the second stage of drought, calls for a 10 percent voluntary reduction in water consumption. A drought watch, the first stage and least severe stage, calls for a voluntary 5 percent reduction of non-essential water use.

“Let’s hope that 2003 turns out to be a year of adequate precipitation after a year that many of us won’t forget,” Secretary Hess said.