Punishing North Jersey weather was good for reservoirs

If the recent barrage of snow and rain has gotten you down, just consider the silver lining.

The dreary days and relentless precipitation have left reservoirs brimming, while just two months ago the water situation was looking grim.

Bergen County in recent weeks had in excess of 7 inches of precipitation, or more than double the typical amount, according to the National Weather Service. Passaic and Morris had similarly wet weeks.

That doubled the water in the Wanaque Reservoir. It also put the Newark reservoirs above 100 percent capacity.

"It's great news," said State Climatologist David Robinson.

Just after the new year, North Jersey's reservoirs were looking ominously low.

For instance, the Wanaque and Monksville reservoir system faced a water deficit equivalent to 18 billion gallons. That's more than 200 supertankers' worth.

Its nadir was on Jan. 12, when reservoirs dipped to about 45.5 percent. As of Tuesday, the Wanaque Reservoir was 94 percent full and the Monksville was at 102 percent of capacity.

Where does the water go?

The North Jersey District Water Supply Commission estimates the two reservoirs hold around 36.6 billion gallons when full. They supply water to 2 million to 3 million customers, who collectively use about 100 million gallons each day.

Among its customers is Anheuser-Busch, which has a brewery in Newark. But it's not beer lovers who siphon off the most water: The average American household uses 100,000 gallons each year for tasks including watering lawns, showering and laundry.

Environmental groups say a typical lawn watering consumes 1,000 gallons. Without all those late-winter storms, we could be facing the prospect of a summer of brown lawns.

"We would have gone into the summer with a deficit," Robinson said.

Winter and spring precipitation are needed to fill reservoirs and get the region through the long, hot summers. In summer months, when rainfall is actually higher than winter, factors like evaporation and heavy use draw down reservoirs.

The usual cycle was threatened by an abnormally dry 60- to 90-day period in late fall and early winter.

Precipitation was urgently needed, and fortuitously it fell. What felt like a nasty few weeks, weather-wise, was actually a bonanza. The average statewide rainfall of nearly 6 inches in February made it the third-wettest on record and the wettest February in well over a century.

Suez, which owns and operates three reservoirs in Bergen County along the Hackensack River, had levels nearing 100 percent as of March 31, according to the Department of Environmental Protection. That spiked from a low of 55 percent in January. Reservoir levels could reach full capacity, given a good rainstorm or two.

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"Weather is unpredictable, but it is possible that we will reach capacity in the coming days if rain continues," Suez spokesman Steven Goudsmith said.

Earlier in the year, Suez and North Jersey District Water Supply pumped water from rivers to raise the reservoir levels, officials said. The North Jersey District Water Supply Commission pumped about 100 million gallons a day until March 2.