New Jersey is rich in water but has a history of heavy droughts such as the drought of record in the 1960s. With climate change, it is likely that New Jersey will receive more of its rainfall from large episodes with dry to drought conditions in between these larger events.

The CCRC is teaming with Rutgers Professor Efthymios Nikolopoulos to use the latest models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to project how drought conditions may change in the state through the end of the century. Our team is calculating two indicators, the standardized precipitation index and the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index, to help quantify how our drought severity and duration may change across moderate and high degrees of climate change. Ultimately, the goal of the project is to help inform future water resource and drought planning.