Water in New Jersey Essay -- Environment Environmental Essays

irrigate in New JerseyResidential, commercial and industrial development is the largest contributors to landscape change in the call down of New Jersey. When buildout occurs in one region, development pressure begins in another, virtually insuring the Megalopolis concept of one huge urban corridor reaching between Boston and Washington D.C. Year after year, farmland dwindles, roads become congested, and more residents atomic number 18 left to compete for diminishing natural resources. horrific measures and newer technologies are incorporated to replace poor planning and lack of vision on behalf of decision-makers caught between competing interests. When the long term health and wellbeing of the established creation and the short term gain of a limited number of people compete for vital natural resources there should be no question whos interests should prevail. Water resources tend to be taken for granted in New Jersey and why shouldnt they? Rainfall and runoff from snowfal l are plentiful, averaging over forty inches per year. The state is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the Delaware River on the other, with reservoirs containing billions of gallons of water, and large underground aquifers in between. Its hard to imagine a famine of this abundant resource. Under normal conditions, this would be the case, but under drought conditions, as has been experienced throughout the winter of 2001 - 2002, the residents of New Jersey are obligate to confront the stark reality of the situation that we may be entering into a severe water supply crisis. Mandatory water conservation and unfaltering penalties for noncompliance may do what preservation and antidevelopment advocates have been trying to do for decades in the state of Ne... ...ment to New Jersey using water resource concerns as a tool to limit large-scale suburban development. These southern agricultural counties are a unique region where large numbers of people are dependent on va luable groundwater resources to continue living in a healthy environment.ReferencesNew Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 1993, New Jersey 1992 farming water quality inventory report, chapter IV, 44p.Blair, Russell, 2002, Telephone interview with Cape May County Agricultural Agent, blemish 5, 2002New Jersey Farm Bureau, 2002, Statistics obtained at website as of March 5,2002, www.njfb.orgNew Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2002, Statistics obtained at website as of March 5, 2002, www.state.nj.us/dep/watersupply/United States Geological Survey, 2002, Statistics obtained at website as of March 3, 2002, www.usgs.gov