Drought in New Jersey, April 1 to 30, 2002

New Jersey entered April 2002 with a drought emergency in effect for the entire state with mandatory watering restrictions in place. Water usage statewide was down about 5 to 10 percent. March 2002 was the first month since June of 2001 where the statewide average precipitation was wetter than normal. This trend continued during April. The preliminary statewide average precipitation total for the month of April was 4.06 inches. Normal is 3.93 inches. In spite of improving conditions, the long run of below normal precipitation was still taking its toll on the state. The state developed contingency plans to draw 25 million gallons of water a day from Lake Hopatcong starting in the summer and transfer it into the Rockaway River for the Boonton Reservoir. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) was developing plans to also draw water from Lake Wawayanda. The DEP also requested that all water companies must detail how much water they were losing through leaky pipes and other failures and how they plan on reducing those losses. It was estimated that 15 percent of all water pumped each day is lost. The DEP also required the New Jersey American Water Company to take as much water as possible from the Elizabethtown Water Company in central New Jersey (where water conditions were the best) for northeast New Jersey. The Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority banned all watering of lawns. Two Roxbury (Morris County) Township wells were shut down because of low levels. The moratorium on all connections to the system were extended through July. Along with the water restrictions came a ban on controlled burns as the Forest Service was in the spring fire season. Recreational fires and open burns had to be coordinated with the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. Only outdoor barbecues and religious ceremonies that involved a fire were not banned. Through April 15th there were 714 wildfires in New Jersey in 2002 vs 223 in 2001. It was the busiest winter season for the Forestry Service in over 30 years.Effects of the drought on individual counties New Jersey entered April 2002 with a drought emergency in effect for the entire state with mandatory watering restrictions in place. The Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority banned all watering of lawns. Two Roxbury (Morris County) Township wells were shut down because of low levels. Netcong Borough (Morris County) banned using municipal water for filling swimming pools. The moratorium on all connections to the system were extended through July. In Branchburg (Somerset County), plans for a township park well were scrapped because of its effect on neighboring homeowner's wells. Gloucester County had drilled more replacement groundwater wells in April than all of 2001 combined. Many townships either scaled back or canceled their spring landscaping plantings. In Cape May County, the salt water intrusion reached well inland from the southern tip of the county. The drought had other affects across the area. Nurseries continued to struggle as consumers were reluctant to buy plants, shrubs and other big ticket items. Some tree nursery sales were down as much as 90 percent. In order to assist the landscaping industry, watering restrictions were relaxed a bit on April 30th for a two month period. Lawn watering was permitted twice weekly in the southwest, northwest and coastal south drought regions. It was already permitted in the central and north coastal drought areas. The annual trout stocking proceeded, but nine locations in the northwest part of the state were not stocked because of low water levels. Wildlife in general was expected to be threatened by higher concentrations of lawn chemicals, pesticides, septic runoff and pollutants in the streams. The lower water levels in lakes and ponds was expected to lead to more vegetation growth, warmer water temperatures, less oxygen and more fish kills. It was also feared that the spawning of bass will be threatened because their nests may be high and dry. Some local sewage authorities were making treated wastewater available to be used for street sweeping, roadside plantings, cleaning sewers and landscaping purposes. The Delaware River Basin Commission, which oversees water supply throughout the Delaware River Basin declared a "drought" on December 3, 2001 when the supply of water in the New York City reservoir system dropped below a designated level for early December. The commission declared a drought emergency on December 18, 2001. Both triggered additional reductions in the amount of water released from the reservoirs into the Delaware River and the amount diverted out of the Delaware River Basin to New York City and New Jersey. Diversions to New York City dropped from 800 million gallons a day to 520 million gallons a day. The emergency declaration gave the commission the power to restrict the amount of water suppliers could draw from the basin. It gave the commission the authority to take water from municipal reservoirs to maintain river levels. It could also call for water releases from federal, state and privately owned reservoirs. Water from Lake Nockamixon, the F.E. Walter Reservoir and Lake Wallenpaupack could be used to maintain river levels. They were last used for this purpose in the 1960s. The releases help protect the riverbank and aquatic life and also prevents salt water from flowing up the Delaware River. Salt water intrusion causes corrosion problems for industries and increases water treatment costs for municipalities that depend on the river for their water supply. Maintaining river levels are also important for groundwater reserves that are recharged by the river itself. On April 1st, the salt front along the Delaware River was eight miles farther upstream than its normal April position. The emergency declaration also gives the commission the power to request that utilities and other companies that use more than one million gallons of water a day to prepare contingency plans to use less water and submit the plans to the commission. Conditions though improved in New Jersey as April wore on. Enough topsoil moisture was available for the spring planting and germination of crops by farmers. Groundwater wells were rising, but were still near record lows. The steady rain decreased the chance of a deep turf forest fire. For the first time in over half a year the Mullica and Great Egg Rivers in southern New Jersey had normal streamflow. The Northern New Jersey reservoirs increased from about 48 percent to 60 percent of capacity during the month. Normal for April 30th is about 95 percent of capacity. The Round Valley Reservoir in Hunterdon County was over 90 percent full. The New York City Reservoirs which feed the Delaware River increased from 50.2 percent of capacity on April 1st to 62.5 percent of capacity on May 1st. Normal for May 1st is 100 percent of capacity.On a county weighted average, April monthly precipitation totals ranged from 2.4 inches in Monmouth County to 5.6 inches in Cumberland County. The normal statewide average is 3.93 inches. The least precipitation fell across the central third of the state, while precipitation was wetter than normal elsewhere in the state. Monthly precipitation totals were 4.08 inches at the Atlantic City International Airport and 3.03 inches in Trenton.