The New Jersey Highlands Coalition has released a video of flyovers of the Round Valley and Spruce Run reservoirs in Hunterdon County and the Wanaque and Monksville reservoirs in Passaic County showing how the drought has impacted these sources of drinking water. Watch video
As the severe drought continues, the New Jersey Highlands Coalition has released a video of flyovers of the Round Valley and Spruce Run reservoirs in Hunterdon County and the Wanaque and Monksville reservoirs in Passaic County.
The video shows how the drought has impacted these reservoirs, which supply water to millions of New Jersey residents and businesses. Water levels at all of the reservoirs have gone down; at Wanaque, some sections are completely empty. The drought is the worst in the state in 14 years, many environmentalists and state officials have said.
"These four Highlands reservoirs represent the water supply of two of the four major water providers of the state," said Elliott Ruga, policy director with the New Jersey Highlands Coalition. "All told, the reservoirs located in the Highlands supply water to 70-percent of New Jersey's population. All are similarly stressed. Water levels are far lower than the lows expected at this time of year."
N.J. faces worst drought conditions in 14 years
The state Department of Environmental Protection declared a drought warning for 14 New Jersey counties on Oct. 21, including Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren counties.
A drought watch remains in effect for Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem.
Ruga was critical of the DEP, stating it has not provided many updates since the warned was issued in October. In response, the DEP said it continues to provide updates at njdrought.org. The DEP also maintains a site that lists the current drought status of each of the six regions in New Jersey.
Round Valley and Spruce Run reservoirs are part of the New Jersey Water Supply Commission system, while Wanaque and Monksville are part of the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission.
The video was released as both Round Valley and Spruce Run are about to eclipse records for lowest capacity.
As of Wednesday, Round Valley was at 37 billion gallons, or 67.3-percent capacity, while Spruce Run is at 3.69 billion gallons, or 33.5-percent of capacity. For Round Valley, the lowest level was recorded on Nov. 28, 1982, with 36.95 billion gallons of water (67.2-percent). Spruce Run's lowest level was recorded on Oct. 18, 1993, with 3.1 billion gallons of water (28.2-percent) of capacity.
Round Valley releases between 30 and 60 million gallons of water each day, while Spruce Run releases about 14 million gallons per day.
The Wanaque Reservoir is at 271.6 feet; the lowest elevation on record is 256.06 feet, set on Dec. 26, 1964.
The ongoing drought is also causing salt water to travel further up the Delaware River in southern New Jersey, according to a NJ Spotlight report.
When the drought warning was issued on Oct. 21, DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said if the conditions worsen the next steps would be a water emergency, with mandatory restrictions on water use. The DEP has also posted information on ways to conserve water.
Craig Turpin may be reached at cturpin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @NJeditor. Find NJ.com on Facebook.