For the first time in 15 years, the state is expected to issue a full-blown drought warning.
The state Department of Environmental Protection is holding a public hearing today on drought conditions, a necessary prelude to declaring a drought warning for at least 12 northern and central counties where scant rainfall has emptied reservoirs.
With much of the state experiencing severely low precipitation levels and some of New Jersey’s biggest reservoirs falling below 50 percent storage levels, it is all but certain a drought warning will be issued.
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Some said the department moved too slowly.
“Have they been asleep at the switch?’’ asked Julia Somers, executive director of the New Jersey Highlands Coalition. “There’s no plan. If there is, it is somewhere in a file at the DEP.’’
This is the second consecutive year that the DEP has declared a drought watch. In addition to drinking-water reservoir levels reaching dangerously low levels, the DEP has listed all stream flows and groundwater levels for the entire state that have been moderately, severely, or extremely dry for the past 90 days.
The DEP’s expected drought warning could affect 12 counties — Bergen, Hudson, Essex, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, and Union counties. A drought watch, calling for voluntary water conservation, also is in effect for Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Salem, Warren, and Sussex counties.
“We could be much more prepared,’’ said Ed Potosnak, executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, who noted data over the past year pointed to a serious water situation.
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