Drier lawns and athletic fields and dirtier campus vehicles are likely to greet students returning to State System of Higher Education university campuses over the next couple of weeks.

Some will be asked to take shorter showers, too.

With Pennsylvania facing perhaps the worst drought in history, officials at several State System university campuses have begun setting restrictions on water use. And with more than 95,000 students scheduled to begin arriving soon at the 14 state-owned universities, administrators will be asking to plenty of help in order to conserve as much water as possible

At Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, conventional showerheads, which can spray up to 10 gallons per minute are being replaced with the low-flow variety that send out only about 2.5 gallons per minute.

Students living on campus at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania will be urged to keep their showers shorter – no longer than three minutes. And they also will be asked to report any leaky faucets or showerheads they see that may be wasting water.

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania has closed one of its swimming pools, a move that will save about 4,000 gallons of water a day, the amount normally needed to keep the pool full and the filters clean.

The campus also is looking for other ways to cut water usage. It recently began recycling water from the dining hall cooling system, pumping it into trucks and using it to water new plantings around campus. Previously, the water would just go down the drain.

Residents of borough of Slippery Rock have been asked to reduce their water consumption by at least 10 percent. Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania officials say that water usage for irrigation of the football field in N. Kerr Thompson Stadium has been cut by 50 percent and no university owned vehicles are being washed in effort to help conserve water.

Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania has workers searching for water in some unusual places. Water is being pumped form manholes, drainage catch basins and other low-lying areas following thunderstorms for use around campus.

All of the campuses are following water conservation guidelines provided by the state Department of Environmental. They include checking their water supply systems for leaks; turning off any unnecessary flows; repairing dripping faucets and showers and continuously running or leaking toilets; and avoiding hosing down sidewalks driveways, loading docks and parking lots.

Workers at Mansfield University of Pennsylvania recently discovered an underground pipe leaking and repaired it and have been checking faucets around campus for leaks and making the necessary repairs.

Because many of the students who will be returning to campus live in communities already under drought restrictions, university officials said they likely will be used to the conservation efforts in place on the campuses and won’t have to make any drastic changes.

The State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 350,000 System alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.