Merrill Creek Reservoir in Warren County helps protect New Jersey and surrounding states from drought, wildfire threats
The 650-acre reservoir offered vital water resources during challenging autumn months
HARMONY TOWNSHIP, NJ (Warren County) – In an autumn marked by extreme drought and wildfires that put New Jersey at risk, Merrill Creek Reservoir (MCR) has played a vital role in safeguarding the state’s crucial resources.
Located in Harmony Township, MCR spans 2,700 acres and is jointly owned by Jersey Central Power & Light, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy, and FirstEnergy Pennsylvania, which operates as Met-Ed in eastern Pennsylvania. The reservoir encompasses a 650-acre water body and a 290-acre environmental preserve, which protects local biodiversity while offering public recreational and environmental education opportunities.
As large portions of the East Coast experienced record-breaking dry spells, causing local lakes and reservoirs to reach alarmingly low levels, MCR maintained more than 95% capacity.
MCR’s unique purpose has contributed to this stability. Built in 1988, the reservoir was not designed for drinking water but to replenish the Delaware River. Containing 15 billion gallons of water, MCR releases water into the Delaware River only when requested by the Delaware River Basin Commission. To date, this has occurred only five times in its 36-year history, most recently in November 2016.
In 2024, MCR may release water into the Delaware River for the sixth time, following a request by the Delaware River Basin Commission to help restore the river’s “salt line” to its normal position.
The salt line marks the point where freshwater from the Delaware River meets the saltwater of the Delaware Bay. Typically, this line rests just over a mile north of the Delaware Memorial Bridge. However, due to the drought and reduced river flow, the salt line has shifted 20 miles north, almost 10 miles beyond the Commodore Barry Bridge and just six miles from the Walt Whitman Bridge. This poses a significant risk to the drinking water supplies for Philadelphia and Camden.
“Philadelphia gets about 58% of its drinking water from the Delaware River, and upstream, Trenton takes its entire drinking water supply from the river,” said John Parke, Environmental Specialist at FirstEnergy and Ecologist at Merrill Creek Reservoir. “About 14.2 million people rely on the Delaware River Basin for their drinking water, which is about 4% of the U.S. population. Since MCR is not a drinking water supply or power-generating reservoir, we continuously store water and can release it to protect these essential resources downriver when necessary.”
In addition to supporting drinking water supplies, MCR also serves as a critical water source for firefighting helicopters used by the New Jersey Forest Fire Service. As the drought intensified and wildfires spread across northern New Jersey this year, MCR remained on standby for helicopter water pickups.
“The last two years saw wildfires in parts of northern New Jersey that haven’t experienced such fires for decades,” said Parke. “The urban-suburban divide, coupled with high fuel loads in the forests, create the potential for devastating fires. We’re fortunate to be able to offer a large water supply that firefighters urgently need to protect properties and contain these fires.”
