New York City declared a drought warning on Monday, its first in 22 years, as the Northeast deals with severe dry conditions and brush fires during a historically dry autumn.
Mayor Eric Adams and the city’s Department of Environmental Protection elevated a drought watch issued on Nov. 2, citing the city’s longest rainless streak in recorded history.
The last drought warning in New York City was issued in 2002.
“It’s hard to believe that we’d be talking about brush fires and droughts in New York City,” Adams said in a news conference, attributing the conditions to climate change. “Our reservoirs are nowhere near where they should be, and our city and watershed continues to experience significant precipitation shortages.”
Under the watch, the mayor ordered city agencies to implement protocols to conserve water which includes reducing fleet washing of trains and buses, suspending street flushing activities, and identifying leaks and conducting repairs at city facilities. New Yorkers are asked to voluntarily conserve water by taking shorter showers and fixing leaky faucets.
Repairs traveling to the Delaware Aqueduct, an 86-mile pipeline that delivers half of New York City’s water supply from the Catskill Mountains, will also be paused to resume flow of water from four reservoirs to the city. The $2 billion project was in its final phase.
Adams said pausing the project will stop a 35-million gallon daily leak and repairs will restart “as soon as possible.”
A drought warning is the second of three water conservation declarations in NYC.
Under a warning city agencies adopt drought protocols and voluntary water conservation is encouraged for New Yorkers. Under the next level, a drought emergency, there will be enforcement of water shortage rules and water rates can be raised. Further, New Yorkers will have to follow water shortage rules, restaurants cannot serve water unless requested, there’s no aesthetic use of water such as for fountains and and no building sidewalk washing.
New York City’s water supply needs almost 8 inches of rain to reach normal levels, officials said.
“Today our reservoirs are at about 60.1% capacity. Usually at this time of year, they are above 79% capacity. That’s an indication of how far down we are. “Over the last 10 weeks, we have had 8.23 inches less rain than in the average year,” Rohit Aggarwala, commissioner at NYC’s Department of Environmental Protection said. “So this drought has come on fast, it has come on furiously, and that’s why the last six weeks have been the driest on record.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul also declared a statewide drought watch on Monday citing “a historic shortage of rainfall” and elevated 15 counties in the Mid-Hudson region and New York City, to a drought warning.
Those other counties are: Delaware, Dutchess, Green, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Schoharie, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester.
“What this declaration means is that the Department of Environmental Conservation has seen the groundwater supply, as well as stream flows, decrease to such a level when combined with the lack of rainfall that we need to start working with our partners upstate to conserve water, ” Deputy Commissioner Terence O’Leary of the NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services told reporters Monday on the state’s decision.
It comes as the Northeast has been grappling with brush fires that have ignited as a result of winds, minimum relative humidity and dry conditions.
The Jennings Creek wildfire, in Orange County, New York, near the NY-NJ border prompted evacuations over the weekend.
The blaze, burning primarily in the Sterling Forest State Park, burned more than 5,300 acres and was 88% contained as of Monday morning, the New York State Park Police said. The same fire has also burned more than 2,280 acres in Passaic County, New Jersey, and was 90% contained, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said Friday.
New York City has also seen a record 271 brush fires in the first two weeks of November, including in Brooklyn’s Prospect Parkprompting the officials to announce Sunday the creation of its first brush fire task force.
Last week, New Jersey declared a drought warning. New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have burn bans in place to prevent wildfire spread.
Red flag warnings are back in effect for 6 million people across Massachusetts Tuesday, with an elevated fire risk forecast for Connecticut. However, rain is forecast late Wednesday into Thursday for the Northeast with rainfall amounts of 0.50 to 1.25 inches expected.
“Not a drought buster, but it will help, especially with ongoing fire weather issues,” the National Weather Service office of New York said.