CLINTON TWP. - Round Valley Reservoir, the state's largest reservoir, has hit a milestone this month when it fell to its lowest capacity since being formed in 1960.

As of Thursday, the reservoir is at 66.5-percent (36.57 billion gallons) of its 55 billion-gallon capacity, according to the New Jersey Water Supply Authority. The previous record was 67.2-percent of capacity set on Nov. 28, 1982, as the state was in the midst of a drought emergency.

Presently, much of New Jersey is in a drought warning.

Round Valley is 2,350 acres in size and reaches depths of up to 180 feet.

Nearby Spruce Run, the third-largest reservoir in the state, is fast approaching its lowest level since opening in 1964. The 1,290-acre reservoir, also managed by the same authority, is at 33-percent of capacity, or 3.6 billion gallons of water.

Its lowest fill on record was set on Oct. 18, 1993, when it was at 28.2-percent of capacity (3.1 billion gallons). It can store a maximum of 11 billion gallons of water.

Last week the New Jersey Highlands Coalition released a video of flyovers of the two reservoirs located in Hunterdon County, as well as the Wanaque and Monksville reservoirs in Passaic County, showing how the drought - the worst in 14 years - has impacted them.

The state Department of Environmental Protection declared a drought warning for 14 New Jersey counties on Oct. 21, including Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren counties.

A drought watch remains in effect for Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem.

Robert Ivan, an avid fisherman who runs the website RoundValleyFishing.com and a Facebook page said while the low water level at Round Valley Reservoir has had made it difficult to launch boats, "As far as the actual fishing goes, this fall has been phenomenal."

He said the state Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Parks and Forestry, which maintains the state parkland around the reservoir, has dumped gravel to help those launching boats.

The DEP said it continues to provide updates at njdrought.org. The DEP also maintains a site that lists the current drought status of each of the six regions in New Jersey.

When the drought warning was issued on Oct. 21, DEP Commissioner Bob Martin said if the conditions worsen the next steps would be a water emergency, with mandatory restrictions on water use. The DEP has also posted information on ways to conserve water.