Blossoming daffodils, moist, green grass -- to most these spring features signify an ample groundwater supply, but experts disagree.

Todd Giddings, professional geologist at Todd Giddings and Associates Incorporated, 3049 Enterprise Dr., described the status of Centre County groundwater levels as an "invisible drought.'

"The cherry trees are in blossom and it doesn't look brown and dry, yet groundwater levels haven't fully recovered," Giddings said.

Droughts in Pennsylvania are labeled by the presence of three of five drought indicators, Bryan Swistock, water resource extension specialist with the College of Agricultural Science, said. These indicators include: precipitation, groundwater levels, stream flows, reservoir and lake levels, and the Palmer Drought Index, he said.

As of April 16, groundwater levels in Centre County were 14 percent below normal, Giddings said. Over the past three years, groundwater levels underwent a downward trend, he said.

Swistock pointed out that the drought surfaced in September 2001 and continued to escalate through February 2002.

"This drought really started last fall," Swistock said. "We have seen several years of below normal precipitation that are adding up."

Giddings utilizes the Internet (www.pgwa.org) to monitor groundwater levels live. The water table in Centre County has recently risen 12 feet, but it is still 70 to 80 feet below where the groundwater level should be in April, Giddings said.

The insufficient precipitation levels affect many people directly, Swistock said. Since the drought occurred in the fall and winter, not only are lawns, crops, and gardens affected, but streams and groundwater levels are suffering, he said.

People who consume "city" water tend to overlook the drought because they get their water from big, deep wells, Richard Alley, Evan Pugh professor of geoscience at Penn State, said. People with their own wells, however, often notice the rapid rate at which water is consumed because the water table drops, Alley said.

The water table could be restored more readily if people conserve water. One hundred thousand people live and work in the Penn State watershed, Giddings said. These people combined use 15 million gallons of water every day.

There are many ways for people to conserve water. Swistock suggested taking shorter showers, flushing the toilet less frequently, and washing only full loads of dishes or clothes.

Alley suggested replacing grassy areas with plants that require less water.

"We have put in a big wildflower patch in our yard, using species that do well without much water," he said.

A more elaborate plan being discussed to replenish groundwater supplies is "beneficial reuse," Alley said. Beneficial reuse entails taking the water from the sewage treatment plant, treating it, and pumping it back upstream, a means of putting the water back into the ground, he said. Putting the water back in the ground slightly downstream from the wells will restore a more normal stream flow, Alley said.

"That wouldn't replace water that we pump out of the ground and then cause to evaporate, but it would capture a lot of the water we pump out of the ground," Alley said.