New York is currently experiencing one of the longest droughts on record. The authorities therefore issued an official drought warning. A disused aqueduct is to be put back into operation.
Because of the ongoing drought, the city of New York has issued its first official drought warning in 22 years. According to authorities, the metropolis on the east coast of the USA will also resume drinking water supplies from a disused aqueduct because supplies are running out. “New Yorkers should not underestimate the dry weather and its importance,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference. “The risk of fire is high and the risk of fire is real.”
A drought emergency means residents and city authorities must limit water use. The mayor said that the specific savings measures now planned include washing buses and subways less frequently and restricting water consumption for fountains and golf courses.
Extension possible in an emergency
New York Mayor Adams also temporarily halted a $2 billion aqueduct repair project in the Catskill region. At the beginning of October, part of it was switched off – but will now be put back into operation because the water level in the city's reservoirs is too low to make up the difference, the city's environmental office said.
The last drought warning for New York was issued in January 2002. The city can upgrade the warning to an emergency if the drought continues. A drought warning also applies to New York state. Governor Kathy Hochul urged residents to save as much water as possible.
Last week, a park at the northern tip of Manhattan caught fire and clouds of smoke billowed across the city – less than a week after a bushfire in Prospect Park in Brooklyn.
New York is currently experiencing the second longest dry phase since records began in 1869. Normally there is a good eleven centimeters of precipitation in October, this year not a single millimeter. It was the driest October in more than 150 years. In addition, it is still warm in summer.
