New Jersey declares drought warning and urges residents to reduce water use

New Jersey’s governor issued a drought warning Wednesday and said the state could implement mandatory water restrictions if conditions worsen.

A record dry spell has led to the driest conditions New Jersey has had in nearly 120 years, prompting a staggering increase in the number of wildfires, state officials said at a news conference.

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has responded to 537 blazes since early October, which have burned thousands of acres, Gov. Phil Murphy said. That’s 500 more fires than during the same period last year, he said. 

Murphy urged residents to take the drought warning seriously and reduce water use voluntarily.

“Every one of us needs to do everything we can to conserve water,” he said.

Tim Eustace, executive director of the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission, said he thinks the state did not go far enough and should have declared a drought emergency, which generally comes with restrictions on nonessential outdoor water use.

“I’ve always been opposed to using drinking water to water your lawns. It’s a crazy waste of resources,” Eustace said. 

His commission provides water to about one-third of New Jersey, and its main reservoir, the Wanaque Reservoir, was at 45% capacity Wednesday.

The Manasquan Reservoir, another major one in the state, was at 51% of capacity, and the Passaic River — which supplies drinking water — was at about 14% of normal levels, though that’s still enough to meet demand, officials said.

New Jersey American Water, which serves about 2.9 million people in the state, issued a conservation notice to its customers Wednesday. The company described the notice as “mandatory” to convey urgency, but it does not have enforcement power over violators, said Mark McDonough, president of New Jersey American Water.

“We’d like you to restrict yourselves if you can, but I don’t have authority to issue tickets or go door to door asking people if they’re watering their lawn,” McDonough said. “We can have a tremendous impact if we get our customers focused on conserving water.”

Murphy said the winter forecast predicts more dry weather, though the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s seasonal outlook predicted above-average temperatures with equal chances of precipitation above or below average levels. 

The dry conditions plaguing New Jersey are part of a broader drought across the Northeast. In October, cities such as Newark, New Jersey; Wilmington, Delaware; and Norfolk, Virginia, recorded no rain at all, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center, which collects precipitation data across the country. Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., set records for the number of consecutive days without measurable rainfall.

In the U.S. overall, October was one of the driest months on record, according to NOAA. U.S. Drought Monitor data indicates that more than half of the continental U.S. is experiencing some level of drought, including 56% of the Northeast.

In New Jersey, rain is usually distributed evenly over the months, state climatologist Dave Robinson said. But some areas have not received measurable rainfall in 40 days, the first time that has happened since records began about 150 years ago. 

“We’ve had longer droughts before, but in terms of just how exceptional the dry weather has been, we’ve not seen something like this,” Robinson said.   

He said New Jersey often gets a dose of heavy rain in October from the remnants of hurricanes or tropical storms or from Nor’easters — low pressure systems that develop in the mid-Atlantic. 

This fall, “we were shut out” for both, Robinson said. Instead, a ridge of high pressure has been parked over New Jersey and other parts of the Northeast for weeks.

“There’s not a major storm to punch this ridge in the chest and knock it out. It’s been more of a slow, exasperating process,” Robinson said. “There are some signs the center part of the country, which had been quite dry, is getting wetter. … It seems to be shifting slowly eastward.” 

So far, November is New Jersey’s 12th consecutive month with above-average temperatures. A warmer atmosphere can both worsen drought and increase the likelihood of extreme rainfall.

“With a more energized, warmer climate system, you can hold more moisture in the atmosphere. … If you can’t tap that moisture source, you’ve got warmer conditions that can exacerbate drying and can lead to more drought,” Robinson said. “The system has become more variable.” 

Given the persistent dry weather in New Jersey since mid-August, ending the drought conditions would require several months of at least average rainfall, if not substantially more, said Shawn LaTourette, the state’s commissioner of environmental protection.

About a quarter-inch of rain fell in some areas Sunday, but Murphy said that was “nowhere near enough.” 

New Jersey last declared a drought emergency in March 2002 and lifted it in January 2003. The state’s last drought warning was in 2016, and it lasted more than half a year, LaTourette said. 

Greg McLaughlin, administrator of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service’s office of forest and natural lands, said that on a scale that measures dryness of materials on the forest floor, conditions have reached 748 out of 800.

“These numbers have never been seen by the Forest Fire Service in our 118-year history,” McLaughlin said. “The impact of this dryness on wildfires cannot be overstated.”

The Jennings Creek Wildfire, along the New York-New Jersey border, continued to burn Wednesday and was about 30% contained. It has burned at least 5,000 acres across the two states. On Saturday, an 18-year-old New York Parks employee was killed by a falling tree while he was battling the fire in New York’s Orange County.

“We are incredibly grateful for his service and for his willingness to protect the people of both New York and New Jersey from these deadly fires,” Murphy said.