Northeast faces threat to water supply as drought hits NYC and New Jersey

[JACK AYLMER]

NEW DATA RELEASED FROM THE U-S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY REVEALS WATER SUPPLIES ARE BEING THREATENED ACROSS THE U-S NORTHEAST DUE TO SEVERE DROUGHT… LEAVING RIVERS, CHANNELS AND RESERVOIRS THROUGHOUT THE REGION AT HISTORICALLY LOW LEVELS.

HYDROLOGISTS ARE ESPECIALLY CONCERNED BECAUSE FALL IS TYPICALLY WHEN YOU SEE BODIES OF WATER AT THEIR HIGHEST LEVELS AS THEY REPLENISH FROM HEAVY USE DURING THE SUMMER.

ONE ENVIRONMENTAL EXPERT NOTED, THE MASSIVE DRY UP IS SOMETHING WE’D “EXPECT TO SEE ONCE EVERY 100 YEARS.”

ONE EXAMPLE IS THE CAMBRIDGE RESERVOIR IN MASSACHUSETTS, WHICH CAN HOLD UP TO ONE-POINT-FIVE BILLION GALLONS… BUT CURRENTLY SITS AT 50 PERCENT CAPACITY.

OFFICIALS WARN SMALL COMMUNITIES MANAGING THEIR OWN WATER ARE AT THE BIGGEST RISK…. AS WATER LEVELS IN SMALLER RESERVOIRS DRY UP AT MUCH FASTER RATES.

THE CONDITIONS PROMPTED NEW JERSEY TO ISSUE ITS FIRST DROUGHT WARNING IN NEARLY A DECADE. NEW YORK CITY IS ALSO FOLLOWING SUIT, ISSUING ITS FIRST DROUGHT WARNING IN MORE THAN TWENTY YEARS.

EARLIER THIS WEEK, NEW YORK CITY PAUSED A TWO-BILLION DOLLAR PROJECT TO REPAIR AN AQUEDUCT SUPPLYING WATER TO HALF ITS RESIDENTS AND OTHER COMMUNITIES IN THE HUDSON VALLEY.

CITING THE EXTREMELY DRY WEATHER.

EVEN WITH MORE RAIN IN THE FORECAST IN THE COMING DAYS, OFFICIALS CAUTION IT MAY TAKE MONTHS TO RECOVER, AND IF CONDITIONS WORSEN… HAVEN’T RULED OUT MANDATORY WATER USAGE RESTRICTIONS.

HIGH WINDS COMBINED WITH LITTLE TO NO RAIN HAVE ALSO FUELED WILDFIRES IN NEW JERSEY AND NEW YORK– LEADING TO AT LEAST ONE DEATH– IN A REGION TYPICALLY KNOWN TO BE “WATER RICH.”

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FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS– I’M JACK AYLMER.