Warren County has received more than an inch of rain in the past few days, but conditions remain dry enough that the county is part of a state-wide drought watch.

The Department of Environmental Protection issued the watch on Thursday.

“While not required, residents and businesses are encouraged to voluntarily conserve water by reducing their nonessential water use,” according to a Thursday DEP release. “Although this week has brought some welcome rain to much of the state, it’s not enough to make up for the lack of rainfall this spring, following a winter that brought little snowfall in many areas,” DEP Acting Secretary Rich Negrin said. “As a result, we’re seeing lowered stream flows, dropping groundwater levels, and persistent precipitation deficits. Water conservation, always a good practice, is especially helpful now as it’ll lessen potential future impacts on water supplies if rainfall continues to be scant this summer.”

The DEP recommendation is that residents and businesses reduce nonessential water use by 5 to 10 percent. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Warren County has a mix of conditions and indicators.

The agency showed normal levels of groundwater in the county, but drought emergency levels of surface water, and drought warning levels for precipitation.

“At this time, 18 public water suppliers are asking for voluntary water conservation in their communities,” according to DEP.

Pennsylvania American Water is not among the suppliers that have issued requests. With the exception of one in Cameron County, all of those suppliers were in the south-eastern and south-central parts of the state.

The Department of Agriculture encourages farm operations to plan to help protect their viability.

“Risks and volatility in farming are weather-related more than in any other business,” Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said. “Pennsylvania’s beneficial natural average rainfall has been upended by weather extremes and unpredictability in recent years. This year is no exception, with more than 90 percent of the topsoil across the state either short or very short in moisture content in the past week.”

The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) urges Pennsylvanians to be aware of increased fire risk.

“We’ve had an unprecedented year for wildfires in the Commonwealth, and we encourage all Pennsylvanians to act responsibly to prevent wildfires as dry conditions persist,” DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said. “Pennsylvania wildfires pose a threat to public health because of the smoke they create. Though significantly smaller than the 10-million-acre wildfires in Canada, Pennsylvania wildfires still create the same hazardous air conditions in the areas impacted.”