JON HURDLE | NOVEMBER 29, 2016
Water-supply advocates argue that plan — last updated in 1996 — can’t deal with current shortages, possible pollution from sewage treatment plants
Drought has deeply depleted the water level at New Jersey’s Spruce Run Reservoir.
As New Jersey’s drought worsens, state advisers on water supply are renewing their call on the Christie administration to release a blueprint for water planning that has not been publicly updated since 1996 despite a legal requirement to do so every five years.
The Water Supply Advisory Council, a group of water company executives, nonprofits, and water users, is expected to urge Gov. Chris Christie and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin to publish a new version of the Statewide Water Supply Plan that was submitted to the governor’s office in 2012 and has not been seen in public since.