Lehighton received 1.76 inches of rain Saturday, according to AccuWeather, but was the steady soaking enough to bring the area out of a drought watch?

Not quite yet, Department of Environmental Protection officials said Monday.According to the real-time status on DEP's website Monday, a drought watch remains active in Carbon, Schuylkill, Monroe, Lehigh and Northampton counties."Our drought task force meets every couple of weeks," said Colleen Connolly, DEP spokeswoman. "They last met on June 8 so the next one should be coming up soon. They will review water tables and how moist the soil is. That will allow them to make a determination about whether to lift the drought watch."The watch has been in effect since late March.DEP released its latest drought report on June 16, before themost recent rainfall, noting thatconditions were already "improving" across the state and streamflow indicators were on the rise."This week's rain could have helped, but we just don't know yet until we sit down and take a look at it," Connolly said.Another three-quarters of an inch of rain is possible during heavy storms predicted for Tuesday.It's been the tale of two months for precipitation."It was a good drenching rain, so I don't anticipate any major problems around the county," said Mark Nalesnik, Carbon County Emergency Management Agency director.Lehighton received just over9 inches of rain in June, comparedto 1.26 inches in May. Last June, Lehighton received 5.10 inches of rain.DEP still calls for a voluntary 5 percent reduction in nonessential water use while the area is under a drought watch.