New Jersey is experiencing the worst drought in more than a decade, according to officials.
Two of the Garden State’s largest reservoir systems — the Oradell and Wanaque — are currently in dire straits, with both being at less than half their capacity, NorthJersey.com reports.
On Thursday, the U.S. Drought Monitor placed Bergen County under a “severe drought” in its weekly national report. The northern two-thirds of the state are already under a “moderate drought.”
Bergen and Passaic counties have received just 4.1 and 3.5 inches of rain, respectively, since August — which is around 60 percent less than average, according to the National Weather Service.
The dry conditions have led to a major plunge in water capacity at several reservoir systems across the state — with Oradell, Woodcliff Lake and Lake Tappan dropping from 85 percent capacity in June to a mere 44.4 percent on Thursday.
The Wanaque reservoir system — which supplies H2O to as many as 3 million residents — has plummeted from 84 percent capacity at the start of July to just 40 percent this week.
Officials have been forced to start drawing water from the Monksville Reservoir due to the dire conditions, something that hasn’t been done in 10 years, officials said.
“At the end of the day, the only real answer is rainfall,” explained Todd Caligure, executive director of the District Water Supply Commission.
If things don’t get better, Gov. Chris Christie may be forced to declare a “water emergency” — which would place mandatory restrictions on daily usage.
“We want to stabilize the system now,” Larry Hajna, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, told NorthJersey.com. “We don’t want to go into next spring in these conditions. But if we have a dry winter and there is no snow melt or substantial rain these conditions will continue.”