A solar farm is being planned for a place that New Jersey treats very differently from an ordinary development site: the surface of a major drinking-water reservoir. The Wanaque Reservoir in Passaic County is set to host a roughly 10-megawatt floating solar project after New Jersey regulators reversed course following an earlier rejection.
The project is being developed by the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission with Nexamp Solar, and the state approved a key siting waiver in 2025 before awarding the project a place in its Competitive Solar Incentive program in 2026. That does not mean construction is a free pass.