New Jersey drought warning persists into summer months as residents are urged to conserve water

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As summer begins, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is urging residents to limit lawn watering, and hand water flowers and shrubs as a drought warning continues. The warning, in place since December 2025, could turn into a drought emergency if conditions do not improve. The state has suffered eight consecutive months of below-normal rainfall, according to officials.

“New Jersey is experiencing a chronic water supply drought, the scale of which we haven’t seen in more than twenty years,” state geologist Steven Domber said in a statement issued earlier this month. “The indicators that we track closely are showing persistently dry conditions. With uncertainty for rainfall in the coming months, we need residents to conserve water today, to ensure we have enough to sustain our needs over the summer.”

The Department of Environmental Protection uses a variety of indicators to determine drought levels, including precipitation, stream flows, reservoir levels, ground water levels and demand.

In addition to the last two months, officials say, the state “experienced below normal precipitation for 20 of the last 24 months since September 2024,” despite heavy snowfall events this past winter that helped restore reservoirs in North Jersey.

“While we saw a little relief over the winter, New Jersey is feeling the effects of nearly two years of below-normal precipitation,” Sherrill said in a statement earlier this month. She urged residents to voluntarily conserve water.

New Jersey state climatologist David Robinson said that since precipitation has been below normal for most of the last 24 months, the recent winter weather did not provide enough water to help restore streams and groundwater.

Should a drought emergency be declared, mandatory water restrictions would be put in place. The last drought emergency lasted almost a year, between March 2002 and January 2003.

How New Jersey residents can conserve water

The state offers a number of tips to help conserve water during the hottest months of the year, including growing native plants that require less water, taking care to water only the roots and not the leaves, and using a car wash that recycles its water.

New Jersey American Water utility is also encouraging “smart irrigation and landscaping practices” along with indoor conservation tips like turning the faucet off while brushing teeth, shaving or washing dishes, taking shorter showers, and running appliances like dishwashers and washing machines only when they are full.