New York has declared a citywide drought alert as it experiences one of the longest dry spells on record.
Last month was the driest October since record-keeping began in 1869, with minimal rain to replenish reservoirs, according to the city’s Department of Environmental Protection.
Mayor Eric Adams is urging New Yorkers to fix leaks, take shorter showers, turn off the faucet while brushing their teeth and flush the toilet only when necessary amid the historic lack of rain.
“Mother Nature is in charge, so we need to make sure we adjust based on the lack of water and rain we have received,” Adams said in a video message posted to social media on Saturday.
An alert is the first of New York City’s three levels of drought advisories, followed by warning and emergency. It is declared when a drought begins to develop.
Other water-saving tips requested by city officials include sweeping sidewalks and driveways instead of using a hose; report leaking fire hydrants and street leaks; and install energy-efficient toilets and shower heads. An open hydrant can release more than 1,000 gallons per minute, wasting about 1.4 million gallons of drinking water in 24 hours, Adams said. Older model toilets can use up to 6 gallons of water per flush.
Many places in the eastern United States are experiencing dry weather, which is causing drought warnings to expand and creating favorable conditions for wildfires. Washington’s dry spell, one of the four longest on record, has reached four weeks. Parts of New York state are under a drought watch, according to the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation.
The need to reduce water use in New York City is even more important given the repair work being done on the Delaware Aqueduct to prevent a leak of 35 million gallons per day under the Hudson River dating back to decades ago, city officials said Saturday.
During the final phase of construction, increasing amounts of drinking water are being drawn from the Croton Watershed, the city’s oldest upstate water supply.
In October, just 2 centimeters of rain fell in the watershed area, compared to the historical average of 9.5 centimeters of rain for that month.
New York, the most populous city in the United States, uses an average of about 4.8 billion liters of water per day, and a little less during the winter months.
“When every New Yorker makes even small changes, like turning off the faucet to wash hands, brush teeth, and wash dishes, we save millions of liters per minute,” Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi said in a statement Saturday. .
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