SUMMARY ARCHIVES

•  Archive of all months
•  Last 12 months
• October 2009
• September 2009
• August 2009
• July 2009
• June 2009
• May 2009
• April 2009
• March 2009
• February 2009
• January 2009
• December 2008
• November 2008

USGS IN YOUR STATE

USGS Water Science Centers are located in each state.

Summary of December 2005 Monthly Hydrologic Conditions

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

December 2005

Precipitation was above normal at Newark and Atlantic City index stations, and below normal at the Trenton index station. Newark reported 3.65 inches, which is 102 percent of normal. Atlantic City reported 4.38 inches, which is 139 percent of normal. Trenton reported 3.10 inches, which is 91.7 percent of normal. Total precipitation for the 2005 calendar year was: 44.19 inches at Newark, which is 1.95 inches above normal; 43.97 inches at Atlantic City, which is 6.52 inches above normal; and 48.62 inches at Trenton, which is 10.65 inches above normal.

Combined storage in the thirteen major water supply reservoirs as of December 31 was 77.5 billion gallons, (96.4 percent of capacity), which is greater than the average December contents for the reference period 1961-1990. The storage was 4.63 billion gallons more than one month ago and 1.20 billion gallons less 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 all three index stations. The monthly-mean discharge at South Branch Raritan River near High Bridge was 179 ft³/s, 115 percent of normal. The monthly-mean discharge of the Great Egg Harbor River at Folsom was 111 ft³/s, 112 percent of normal. The monthly mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton was 17,430 ft³/s, 122 percent of normal. The observed daily mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton on December 31 was 25,700 ft³/s. Mean annual streamflows for the 2005 calendar year were 103% of normal at South Branch Raritan River at High Bridge, 100% of normal at Great Egg Harbor River at Folsom, and 125% of normal at Delaware River at Trenton.

Groundwater levels, as measured in water-table observation wells, for the month of December were above normal at all three index wells. Levels increased from last month at Readington School 11 and Vocational School 2 index wells, and decreased from last month at the Morrell 1 index well. Compared to one year ago, levels were higher at the Readington School 11 and Morrell 1 index wells, and were lower at the Vocational 2 index well.

Water quality parameters collected from the Delaware River at Trenton were within recorded historical monthly extremes. Water temperature ranged from 0.2 to 9.4 degrees Celsius. Dissolved oxygen ranged from 10.8 to 15.3 milligrams per liter. Specific conductance ranged from 106 to 300 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