Current:Home > NewsNYC declares a drought watch and asks residents to conserve water -MacroWatch
NYC declares a drought watch and asks residents to conserve water
View
Date:2025-04-14 09:10:11
NEW YORK (AP) — New York’s mayor urged residents to take shorter showers, fix dripping faucets and otherwise conserve water, issuing a drought watch Saturday after a parched October here and in much of the United States.
A drought watch is the first of three potential levels of water-saving directives, and Adams pitched it in a social media video as a step to try to ward off the possibility of a worse shortage in the United States’ most populous city.
“Mother Nature is in charge, and so we must make sure we adjust,” said Adams, a Democrat.
He ordered all city agencies to get ready to implement their water conservation plans. He asked the public to do its part by, for example, turning off taps while brushing teeth and sweeping sidewalks instead of hosing them down.
The mayor also exhorted residents to report opened-up fire hydrants and other street leaks. The recommendation comes days after the city fixed a leaky Brooklyn hydrant that fed a homespun goldfish pond on the sidewalk.
Just 0.01 inches (0.02 cm) of rain fell last month on the city’s Central Park, where October normally brings about 4.4 inches (11.2 cm) of precipitation, National Weather Service records show. City Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Rohit Aggarwala said it was the driest October in over 150 years of records.
Complicating the water squeeze, the city is repairing a big, leaky aqueduct that carries water from the Catskill region, so residents are relying more on reservoirs in the city’s northern suburbs. That area got 0.81 inches (2 cm) of rain last month, about one-fifth the October average, the mayor’s office said in a release Saturday.
New York City uses an average of 1.1 billion gallons (4.2 billion liters) of water a day. That is about 35% below a 1979 peak. The city attributes the decrease to such factors as improvements in spotting leaks.
Last month, nearly half the country was in a flash drought, which means a rapid dry-out from a combination of little precipitation and abnormally high temperatures. The Northeast capped the month with an unusually — one might even say weirdly — warm Halloween, with temperatures hitting the high 70s and low 80s (24 to 28 Celsius) from New York to Maine.
Experts attributed the flash drought to a weather pattern that kept moisture from moving north from the Gulf of Mexico.
The dry weather constrained shipping on the Mississippi River and contributed to wildfires in the Midwest and the East.
The National Weather Service continued Saturday to warn of elevated fire risk in places including Connecticut, where a firefighter was killed last month while battling a dayslong brush blaze apparently sparked by a poorly doused campfire.
veryGood! (94649)
Related
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Access to busy NYC airport’s international terminal restricted due to pro-Palestinian protest
- Israel-Hamas war will go on for many more months, Netanyahu says
- Thai prime minister says visa-free policy for Chinese visitors to be made permanent in March
- Man can't find second winning lottery ticket, sues over $394 million jackpot, lawsuit says
- Vegas legend Shecky Greene, famous for his stand-up comedy show, dies at 97
- Owen the Owl was stranded in the middle the road. A Georgia police officer rescued him.
- Pretty Little Liars' Brant Daugherty and Wife Kim Welcome Baby No. 2
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- It's over: 2023 was Earth's hottest year, experts say.
Ranking
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Hack, rizz, slay and other cringe-worthy words to avoid in 2024
- Rohingya refugees in Sri Lanka protest planned closure of U.N. office, fearing abandonment
- More Americans think foreign policy should be a top US priority for 2024, an AP-NORC poll finds
- 'Most Whopper
- Billy Joel jokes about moving to Florida during late-night New Year's Eve show in New York
- The Handmaid's Tale Star Yvonne Strahovski Gives Birth to Baby No. 3
- A boozy banana drink in Uganda is under threat as authorities move to restrict home brewers
Recommendation
Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
Hail and Farewell: A tribute to those we lost in 2023
The Rock returns to WWE on 'Raw,' teases WrestleMania 40 match vs. Roman Reigns
The Endangered Species Act at 50: The most dazzling and impactful environmental feat of all time
Kylie Jenner Shows Off Sweet Notes From Nieces Dream Kardashian & Chicago West
Missile fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen strikes merchant vessel in Red Sea, Pentagon says
Israel moving thousands of troops out of Gaza, but expects prolonged fighting with Hamas
Billy Joel jokes about moving to Florida during late-night New Year's Eve show in New York