New Jersey still has a long way to go before digging itself out of its serious drought, but conditions have slowly been improving in the northern half of the state during recent weeks, according to the latest data.
In late November, nearly the entire southern half of the Garden State was experiencing extreme drought conditions, and most of the northern half had severe drought conditions.
As of Jan. 1, about 34% of the state remains in an extreme drought, but most of the northern half of the state has improved from a “severe drought” to a “moderate drought,” according to the National Drought Mitigation Center’s latest U.S. Drought Monitor status map.
A series of rain storms and snowstorms during recent weeks have helped boost the levels of most of New Jersey’s reservoirs — the source of drinking water for millions of people.
Although most of the reservoirs still remain below normal for early January, they made slow but steady gains between late November and late December, according to data from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
Three reservoirs in Bergen County are actually a little above normal for this time of year.
New Jersey officials declared a statewide drought warning on Nov. 13, 2024 amid months of very little rain and steadily declining levels of water in reservoirs that provide drinking water to millions of people. These before-and-after photos show how substantially the water level has dropped at the Manasquan Reservoir in Monmouth County.NJ Department of Environmental Protection
Latest water supply numbers
Here’s a closer look at the numbers:
The combined Northeast Reservoirs in northeastern New Jersey were 58% to 60% full in late November and were about 68% full in late December, which is about 12% below normal. (Those include reservoirs operated by Newark, Jersey City, Boonton, the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission and the Veolia Water company.)
The five Newark Reservoirs (Newark, Canistear, Charlotteburg, Echo Lake and Oak Ridge) were about 58% full in late November and about 68% full in late December, which is 10% below normal.
The three Veolia Reservoirs in Lake Tappan, Oradell and Woodcliff Lake were about 58% full in late November and are climbed to about 75% full in late December — which is 5% above normal.
The two North Jersey District Reservoirs in Wanaque and Monksville in Passaic County were only about 52% full in late November and about 60% full in late December, which is 15% below normal.
The two Jersey City Reservoirs (Boonton and Split Rock) were 70% full in late November and nearly 85% full as of late December, only 5% below normal.
The combined Spruce Run and Round Valley reservoirs in Hunterdon County have remained fairly steady at about 80% capacity since November, still about 10% below normal for this time of year.
The combined Coastal North Reservoirs (Manasquan, Glendola and Swimming River) were slightly below 60% full in late November and about 72% full in late December, which is still far below their normal level of 90%.
The Manasquan Reservoir alone, which hit its lowest levels on record in October and November, made slow gains in December but was still only about 58% full as of Thursday morning, according to data from the New Jersey Water Supply Authority. Its average capacity in January is about 93%.
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Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com or on X at @LensReality.
