Reservoir capacity in New Jersey usually builds up over the winter, but drought conditions have not improved this year. What will it take to escape the drought?
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00:00It was back in November when Governor Phil Murphy issued a drought warning across the state of New Jersey urging residents to conserve water.
00:08That drought warning is still in effect three months later, and reservoirs, just like this one, continue to feel the strain.
00:15They're running 10-15% below where they should be at this time of the year.
00:21And this is the time of the year when quantities or the capacity should still be rising, and it's not.
00:29New Jersey is no stranger to drought conditions.
00:32But what makes this drought warning particularly concerning this time around is the timing.
00:38Typically, reservoirs build up water levels in the winter to prepare for the drier months ahead.
00:43And now that we're in winter, it's sneaky because people saw some snow cover on the ground.
00:49They felt the cold air, and they forgot that we're in a drought situation.
00:54As spring approaches, the long-term impacts of this dry spell could become more severe.
00:59Ultimately, though, officials say the best-case scenario, based off history, would be to ease our way out of it.
01:05We don't want to come out of it too fast, and sometimes we're teased coming out of it.
01:11Back in 1999, we had a very dry summer, and Floyd came in the middle of September and resulted in horrible flooding in the state.
01:23And we went right back into drought conditions for the next couple of years.
01:27So what we'd like is a well-distributed rainfall over the next couple of months that will perk up the supplies and back off a little bit with our drought concerns.
01:42Historically, the state has experienced periods of extreme dryness, impacting everything from drinking water supply to agriculture and even wildfire risk.
01:51The last major drought emergency in the state was back in 2002, when reservoir levels plummeted and mandatory water restrictions were put in place.
02:00While we're not there yet, officials are closely monitoring conditions.
02:05For AccuOther, I'm Allie Reed.