Drought and wildfires are giving New Jersey and New York a taste of California life

State leaders on the Eastern Seaboard are scrambling to deal with something western governors know all too well — drought and fire.

Governors in New York and New Jersey have begun warning their residents to save water as an unusual drought grips the region. Even with some rain in the forecast this week, it likely won't be enough to bring relief.

A bleak picture is only worsening. Both states' governors have alluded to long-term forecasts that suggest the winter ahead may be drier than normal too. It is nothing like California, where wildfires routinely destroy hundreds of thousands of acres a year. But raging fires — which prompted local evacuations this weekend and smoke wafting into New York City — have given residents and political leaders alike another taste of West Coast life in a warming climate. Last year, the region's air was dangerously polluted by smoke from fires in Canada.

The most severe drought problems may be in New Jersey, where Gov. Phil Murphy last week put the entire state under a drought warning amid what the Democrat called an "incredibly serious" dry spell that has left water supply reservoirs depleted.

The lack of rain has also led to the spike in wildfires, including a thousands-acre blaze along New Jersey's border with New York that firefighters from both states spent days battling.

Murphy said he and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and their teams have been talking back and forth about the drought.

On Monday, Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams both warned residents to use less water and announced measures for government agencies to cut water use.

"Our city vehicles may look a bit dirtier, and our subways may look a bit dustier, but it's what we have to do to delay or stave off a more serious drought emergency," Adams said in a statement.

In New York City, the situation has been complicated by a planned shutdown of one of its main water supply lines, which helps the city import water from upstate. On Monday, Adams said he was pausing the project, and officials raised the city's drought status from "watch" to the more urgent "warning" like New Jersey has done.

But a regional drought response may get more formal, and fast, following a Tuesday meeting of a multi-state agency that oversees the Delaware River — which provides water to more than 13 million people in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, making it one of the most important rivers in the country along with the Colorado and Mississippi.

The Delaware River Basin Commission — which has representatives from the New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware governors' offices and the federal government — is holding a hearing as it considers declaring a regional water supply emergency.

Already, those states have some kind of drought warning or watch in effect for dozens of counties and in their largest cities: New York City, Newark, Philadelphia and Wilmington, respectively.

For New Jersey, October was the driest month since at least 1895, when record-keeping began. The state's top climate official called the month a "shutout" with almost no precipitation anywhere in the Garden State.

So far, though, their drought warnings and related drought watches come without teeth or enforced mandates.

Hochul's administration has suggested New Yorkers fill up their laundry machines and dishwashers instead of doing half loads. Murphy said people need to "do the right thing" with their water use and his administration has recommended people stop watering their lawns.

"We can't get inside of somebody's shower," he said, though declaring an emergency that would come with mandates remains an option.

In New York City, the situation is complicated by a planned shutdown of one of the city's main water supply lines, which helps the city import water from upstate. A city spokesperson said the city could soon move the drought status from "watch" to the more urgent "warning" like New Jersey has done.

While drought and wildfire are more often thought of as a western thing, it's not unheard of for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to experience both. Unless there is rain or snow soon, political tensions could increase over water supplies.

The last major drought in New Jersey was in the early 2000s and spanned Republican and Democratic administrations that seemed to struggle with how to police water use.

Daniel Van Abs, a retired professor who specializes in water policy, said some people at the time argued about the state doing too much too soon and others said too little was being done too late as various groups competed for different treatment.

"There was this constant foment," Van Abs said.