NEW JERSEY (PIX11) — Parts of the Manasquan Reservoir usually reserved for kayaking or fishing are now walking trails due to New Jersey's severe lack of recent rainfall.
"It's kind of apocalyptic almost," said Sonni Coughlin of Toms River. "Very surreal."
"I've never seen the water level drop this low," said Raquel Pagan.
According to the New Jersey Water Supply Authority, the Manasquan Reservoir is at 49.16% capacity as of Tuesday.
The water level has not been this low since the early 1990s when the reservoir was constructed and first being filled.
According to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, the reservoir is responsible for delivering 30 million gallons of water per day to Monmouth County. It provides 60% of the drinking water for the towns of Brielle, Sea Girt, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, and Wall.
"I've never seen it this low, ever," said Lauren Traver of Toms River. "You can tell where just the water was a month ago, and it's gone down so drastically in such a short amount of time."
Last week, the state declared a drought warning and urged residents to voluntarily conserve water. The state Department of Environmental Protection said it is working with water companies to assess conditions and may need to transfer water through interconnected infrastructure to balance reservoir storage.
"We need several months of at least average rain - if not substantially above-average rain - in order for us to emerge from these conditions," Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn LaTourette said during a press conference last week.
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