U.S. Water News Online
TRENTON, N.J. -- Alarmed by dropping water levels in New Jersey's aquifers, state regulators are planning new restrictions on development projects and tighter protection of marshes and wetlands.
Officials said heavy use is slowly tapping out the underground aquifers, and the ongoing drought has only made things worse. They said the state's water table has been dropping for decades, a problem that has gone largely unnoticed.
``Many people who have been watching groundwater levels in New Jersey are seeing them lower than they've ever been before,'' said Anthony Navoy, assistant chief for the United States Geological Survey.
Increasing evidence suggests that development -- not just dry weather -- is a major cause of the long-term decline. Officials say rain showers can take months to percolate down to some aquifers and, if the rain hits pavement or turf, it can circumvent the groundwater system altogether.
Regulators said they hope the tougher rules will ensure that rainwater can replenish the aquifers and isn't lost to urban runoff.
``There's going to be a day of reckoning,'' said Bradley Campbell, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection. ``The only way our communities are going to grow is if we have clean water.''
Campbell said regulations are being drafted to rein in the volume of discharge -- or runoff -- permitted from new housing and commercial developments. Over the long term, he said, new limits will be proposed on the amount of impervious surfaces -- such as turf or pavement -- allowed with new developments.
Campbell also said the DEP will take a more active role in ensuring that proposed developments have enough water resources to be self-sustaining. Currently, that task is left to the state's 566 municipalities, with mixed results.
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