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Summary of October 2009 Monthly Hydrologic Conditions

Compiled in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Provisional assessment of hydrologic conditions in New Jersey

October 2009

Precipitation was above normal at all three index stations. Newark reported 5.43 inches, which is 172 percent of normal.  Atlantic City reported 7.97 inches, which is 279 percent of normal.  Trenton reported 5.32 inches, which is 203 percent of normal. Total precipitation over the past 12 months was: 48.55 inches at Newark, which is 2.30 inches above normal; 61.61 inches at Atlantic City, which is 21.02 inches above normal; and 54.81 inches at Trenton, which is 13.42 inches above normal.

Combined storage in the thirteen major water supply reservoirs as of October 31 was 69.078 billion gallons (85.5 percent of capacity), which is higher than the average October contents for the reference period 1961-1990.  The storage was -0.806 billion gallons less than one month ago and 9.640 billion gallons higher than one year ago.  The thirteen major water supply reservoirs are as follows: Lake Tappan, Woodcliff Lake, Oradell Reservoir, DeForest Lake, Splitrock Reservoir, Boonton Reservoir, Canistear Reservoir, Oak Ridge Reservoir, Clinton Reservoir, Charlottesburg Reservoir, Echo Lake, Wanaque Reservoir and Spruce Run Reservoir.         

Streamflow was above normal at the Great Egg Harbor River at Folsom and Delaware River at Trenton index stations, and below normal at the South Baranch Raritan River near High Bridge index station. The monthly-mean discharge at South Branch Raritan River near High Bridge was 81.5 ft3/s, 91.3 percent of normal.  The monthly-mean discharge of the Great Egg Harbor River at Folsom was 83.3 ft3/s, 133 percent of normal.  The monthly mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton was 9522 ft3/s, 117 percent of normal. The observed daily mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton on October 31 was 26900 ft3/s. 

Ground-water levels, as measured in water-table observation wells for the month of October were above normal at all three index wells. Levels increased from last month, and were higher than one year ago.

Water quality parameters collected from the Delaware River at Trenton were within recorded historical monthly extremes. Water temperature ranged from 8.8 to 18.2 degrees Celsius. Dissolved oxygen ranged from 8.6 to 12.9 milligrams per liter. Specific conductance ranged from 118 to 252 microsiemens per centimeter at 25°C.

All of the files listed below are in Portable Document Format (PDF) which can be viewed/printed with the Adobe Acrobat® Reader, freely available for most computer platforms.

• Combined Storage in the 13 Major Water Supply Reservoirs
• Monthly precipitation at three selected sites
• Groundwater levels in selected Water-table observation wells
• Streamflow at selected sites
• Water quality for the Delaware River at Trenton