State officials say heavy amounts of precipitation during the winter helped New Jersey's drought woes.
All the rain and snow that made a mess of many trips for commuters the past few months has had one big benefit: Ending the severe drought conditions in most of New Jersey.
The heavy precipitation has replenished most of the state's biggest reservoirs, prompting the state Department of Environmental Protection to officially lift the drought warning Wednesday that had been in place in 12 counties since October 2016.
New Jersey's drought warning has been lifted in all but two counties across the state, as seen in this map from the state Department of Environmental Protection. A drought warning, however, remains in place in two counties that are still struggling to get their major drinking water supplies back to normal levels: Somerset and Hunterdon.
"The return of soaking and well-timed precipitation over the winter and early spring has resulted in steady improvements in our drought indicators for most of the state," DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon. "In particular, storage levels in the major reservoir systems that serve the densely populated portions of northern New Jersey are at full capacity entering the time of year when water demand peaks."
Two key reservoirs in Central New Jersey -- Round Valley and Spruce Run -- both remain below normal capacity, the DEP said on Wednesday. Round Valley is at about 72 percent capacity and Spruce Run is at about 69 percent capacity, mainly because those areas received less rain and snow than other areas of the state.
With a drought warning still active in Hunterdon and Somerset, the DEP has the authority to take steps to conserve billions of gallons of water in those two big reservoirs. Both are operated by the New Jersey Water Supply Authority, which says Round Valley and Spruce Run are usually at 94 percent of their capacity in early April.
Photos of this week's 'pink moon' over N.J.
Martin signed an administrative order Wednesday lifting the drought warning status in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Sussex, Union and Warren counties. It also cancels the drought watch that was in effect in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties.
Concerns about timing
A major New Jersey environmental group is questioning whether the DEP's actions on Wednesday were premature.
"We are concerned that the DEP is releasing the drought warning too soon. We're entering warmer months and the growing season," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.
"Last year they lifted it prematurely and we ended up back in a drought in a couple months. It was made worse because they didn't conserve water beforehand," Tittel added in a statement released Wednesday afternoon. "We are concerned because our state's largest reservoir is well below normal and our groundwater levels are still very low. We also have not adapted our Drought Warning System to climate change and changing weather patterns."
"Nature may determine the amount of rain," he said, "but government policies can make droughts worse."
Even though most areas of New Jersey now have normal water supply conditions, the DEP commissioner is asking homeowners and business owners to continue water conservation efforts, "especially when watering lawns and landscaping, which accounts for a significant portion of water use in the spring and summer."
The Sierra Club agrees residents should continue conserving as much water as possible, especially now that we are heading into the primary growing season.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.