New Jersey issues a drought warning

AccuWeather

AccuWeather's Ali Reid reports from Howell, New Jersey, where severe drought conditions have caused water reservoir levels in the area to drop. A drought warning has now been issued across the state.

Transcript

00:00Something else that we have been covering very closely, of course, is the

00:03wildfires and the lack of rainfall into the Northeast. So, New Jersey has now

00:07declared a drought warning across the state. That's just one step below the

00:12highest level of drought action and it's due to the lack of rainfall, strain on

00:16water resources, and the historic increase in wildfires. Our Ali Reed has

00:22been covering this story from day one, joins us now from Howell, New Jersey, to

00:25explain what this all means as reservoir levels continue to fall. Ali.

00:33Right, Ari. It's hard to imagine that where I'm standing right now used to be

00:38filled with water behind me. It goes to show you just how dire the drought

00:43situation has become here across the state of New Jersey just yesterday.

00:47Governor Phil Murphy announcing that drought warning status. It really

00:51underscores how severe the conditions have become. And this video on your

00:56screen truly shows it. That faint line you're seeing up on the wall, that is

01:00where the water at this reservoir used to be now sitting at 52% capacity. The

01:06water levels are a key indicator of the stress on our natural resources and

01:09officials are closely watching this area in particular. Despite some brief

01:13showers this past weekend, the rainfall just wasn't nearly enough to ease the

01:17drought. And it's not just the water supply that's feeling the effects. The

01:21Forest Fire Service says their drought index, which measures the dryness of

01:25the fuel on the forest floor, is at unprecedented levels. Right now, they're

01:30recording a 7 48 on their scale, almost at that 800 point maximum.

01:37These numbers have never been seen by the Forest Fire Service in our 118 year

01:42history. And to give you some context on this, 800 indicates that

01:49approximately eight inches down into the ground, the soil is dry. That would

01:55require then eight inches of water to bring that same, uh, soil back to

02:02complete saturation.

02:07Since early October, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service has responded to 537

02:12fires. That is 500 more fires than the exact same time period last year. In

02:17other terms, that is a 1300% increase. Now, this drought warning doesn't

02:21impose residential restrictions. This mainly allows officials to preserve

02:25supplies and better position reservoir systems in time to meet demands for

02:29warmer months. But they're still needing people across the state to take action.

02:34The public is being asked to help by limiting water use with steps like

02:37shorter showers and running dishwashers only with full loads. And it's

02:42important to do so because if we do get to that drought emergency status,

02:46which would be the next step up, there will be mandatory restrictions that

02:51residents will have to face across the state. Of course, officials are hoping

02:54Ari that it does not get to that point. Yeah, we to Ali. We appreciate you

02:58covering this in such detail for us over the last couple weeks and

03:01especially for this morning are Ali Reed reporting live in Howell, New

03:04Jersey.

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