A springtime soaking in the Northeast led a regional planning authority to drop water suspensions yesterday that had been in place for a handful of natural gas hydraulic fracturing outfits in Pennsylvania.

A spokeswoman for the Susquehanna River Basin Commission said four suspended withdrawals had been reversed at press time, dropping the total count from 17 to 13. She expects about half of the rest of the suspensions to be lifted once they clear a mandatory 48-hour window set up to prove waterways have recovered.

Susan Obleski, director of communications at the agency, explained that streams in the north and north-central part of the state have been running abnormally low since at least February, when the first two suspensions were announced. This past weekend's rains went a long way toward restoring streams that supply drilling operations, but they will not likely affect all the suspensions, she said.

"It's hard to guess," she said, adding that the U.S. Geological Survey and the individual companies are monitoring the streams. "At least some of those [13] will be lifted as of [this morning]."

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, uses millions of gallons of water and chemicals to release gas trapped inside underground rock formations. Many of these drilling operations get their water at nearby streams and import it using trucks and pipelines.

Obleski said the eastern half of Pennsylvania was hit hardest by the rains, so fracking companies will be looking for more relief in the weeks ahead.

In 2010 and 2011, the commission issued most of its water restrictions during summer months. A warm spring and winter, coupled with a lack of rain and snowfall, are causing water levels to drop much sooner than usual.

More than 60 percent of the continental United States is experiencing abnormally dry conditions or drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. This is the driest the country has been since September 2007.

Sullivan is based in New York.