A stone bridge courting again to the 1800s that has been submerged underwater for many years is now totally uncovered after a New Jersey reservoir was emptied — however the drought is to not blame.
Chopper 4 footage from excessive above the Oak Ridge Reservoir in West Milford confirmed an space that regarded extra like a barren desert than a deep physique of water.
“It’s filled usually, I’ve never seen it like this – never,” mentioned Luanne Blohm, who lives within the city.
One other West Milford resident, Suzanne Mlynarczyk, mentioned she has taken scores of photographs of the water and environment earlier than, however on Friday it “felt like I’m walking on the moon.”
The now-nearly empty reservoir has been attracting loads of onlookers of late, as folks wish to get a have a look at what has been unearthed.
Identified domestically because the “Ghost Bridge,” neighbors mentioned the stone bridge that’s normally underneath ft of water dates again 200 years. It’s nonetheless totally intact and now utterly uncovered, making for a uncommon sight and intriguing photograph to snap.
“We always ride past this reservoir, we didn’t even know the bridge existed,” mentioned Lois Kiensicki.
“I always looked for the bridge, but it’s usually covered. Lately it’s been getting lower and lower,” Blohm mentioned.
As reservoirs throughout the state dry up because of the ongoing drought, West Milford officers pressured the distinctive sight shouldn’t be climate associated. As a substitute, it is because of scheduled upkeep on the reservoir, which sits simply miles from the continued Jennings Creek wildfire.
And whereas the reservoir being empty could be a coincidence, local weather consultants all agree that the area badly wants rain and reservoirs must fill again up earlier than the state of affairs will get worse.
“In the last 90 days, we should’ve had a foot of rain, and we’ve had two inches of rain, and most of that was in September. So we have a deficit of 10 inches,” mentioned state climatologist David Robertson.
