By alison granito
Staff Writer
MILLSTONE — One township official is calling for aid from the public to help enforce state imposed water restrictions.
Township Emergency Management Coordinator Ron Trust said that despite the heavy publicity the drought has received on television, on the radio, and in the newspapers, many people with their lawn sprinklers going full force plead ignorance when confronted about their violation of state ban on outdoor water use.
"Some of the people I talk to say, ‘Well, I didn’t know,’ and I just want to ask them, ‘Don’t you have a television? Don’t you have a radio?’ If they do, there is no way they don’t know about the drought," Trust said Monday.
As the only municipality in Monmouth County that relies exclusively on well water, Millstone Township has been especially hard hit by one of the driest summers on record this century. County health officials estimated earlier this month that more than 60 residential wells had gone dry in the past few months.
According to Trust, another handful have gone dry in the past two weeks.
"It’s mind-boggling for me that some people can still ignore this," Trust said.
"If you have got a nice, lush green lawn while everyone else’s is brown, it’s obvious you have been watering," he added.
To combat those in town who continue to flout the water restrictions, Trust composed a short poem about the severity of the situation. In order to reach as many households as possible, Trust forwarded his plea to the school district, which sent the poem home with students.
"There’s water, water everywhere/ Lawn sprinklers shooting in the air/ If this is true — then shame on you!/ Please think about — this nasty drought!/ Over 60 Millstone wells have gone dry/ Due to lack of water from the sky," wrote Trust.
According to Trust, he has received 76 calls from angry neighbors of "lawn waterers and car washers" since his poem has gone out and has passed the information along to the state police, who have issued warnings.
Those charged with violating the state water restrictions, which currently prohibits both washing cars and watering lawns, are subject to fines of up to $1,000. Full details on the drought and state water restrictions are available from the Department of Environmental Protection at www.njdrought.org.
Trust’s message for those reluctant to get involved is simple. "I don’t want your name or number; all I need to know is the street and house number where there is a violation," he said.
Trust said that the township’s two water tankers, which supply water to residents whose wells have run dry have been in constant use for the past three months. After talking to local drilling firms, he said most have estimated the wait time to get a new residential well drilled at two to three weeks.
"That’s a long time without water," he said.
As he says in his poem, "Please remember to just pick up your phone/ Because the next well to dry up could be your own."
Millstone Township Emergency Management can be reached at (609) 208-9770.