New Jerseyans don‘t have to look at weather stats to realize how little rain we’ve gotten during the past two months. A quick glance at the Manasquan Reservoir in Monmouth County will confirm the alarmingly dry conditions.
The water level of the reservoir — a major source of drinking water for a wide swath of Monmouth County — has dropped to as low as 58% of its full capacity as of Thursday, according to data from the New Jersey Water Supply Authority.
On Thursday, “the Manasquan Reservoir pool was at elevation 93.5 feet above sea level, which is 9.5 feet below full pool,” Marc Brooks, the agency’s executive director, told NJ Advance Media Friday afternoon.
“When full, the reservoir contains 4.67 billion gallons,” Brooks noted. “As of yesterday, the reservoir was holding 2.71 billion gallons or 58% of full capacity, which is a record low.” The reservoir is usually about 80% full in mid-October, according to the Asbury Park Press, which first reported the record-low water levels.
Statistics posted on the water authority’s website confirm the water level has dipped substantially during the past two months.
The reservoir is part of a network that provides drinking water for more than 1.2 million people in Central New Jersey.
In the late morning and early afternoon on Friday, there were clear signs the Manasquan Reservoir has been steadily dropping as New Jersey’s long streak of dry weather and extremely low rainfall persists.
A large floating dock near the reservoir Visitor Center in Howell was completely out of the water. The section of the permanent structure that usually hovers a few feet above the water was now hovering over sand and rocks.
In addition, there was no water touching the pilings near the Visitor Center, with the normal water lines visible several feet above the now-dry surface.
This is all the result of a long stretch of hot weather during the summer, followed by an extremely dry fall season so far.
Last month turned out to be one of the three driest Septembers ever recorded in New Jersey, with rainfall data going all the way back to 1895. And more than halfway through October, most areas of the state have gotten either no rain at all or just a tiny amount from spotty showers.
The entire state is now classified as “abnormally dry,” with 59% of New Jersey having moderate drought conditions and 12% having severe drought conditions, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor map and data, released Thursday morning.
The severe drought conditions are primarily being seen across a wide swath of Atlantic, Burlington and Ocean counties, along with a small portion of Camden and a tiny sliver of Gloucester.
On Thursday, the worsening drought situation prompted Gov. Phil Murphy’s office to declare a drought watch and ask residents across the state to voluntarily conserve water.
NOTE: This report was updated Friday evening to include comments from the New Jersey Water Supply Authority.
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Len Melisurgo may be reached at [email protected] or on X at @LensReality.
Natalie Paterson may be reached at [email protected].