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Summary of February 2008 Monthly Hydrologic Conditions

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

February 2008

Precipitation was above normal at all three index stations. Newark reported 5.82 inches, which is 197 percent of normal. Atlantic City reported 5.27 inches, which is 185 percent of normal. Trenton reported 4.87 inches, which is 175 percent of normal. Total precipitation over the past 12 months was: 57.68 inches at Newark, which is 11.43 inches above normal; 43.03 inches at Atlantic City, which is 2.44 inches above normal; and 44.50 inches at Trenton, which is 3.11 inches above normal.

Combined storage in the thirteen major water supply reservoirs as of February 29 was 76.45 billion gallons (95.1 percent of capacity), which is higher than the average February contents for the reference period 1961-1990. The storage was 12.04 billion gallons higher than one month ago and 3.01 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 South Branch Raritan River near High Bridge and Delaware River at Trenton index stations, and below Normal at the Great Egg Harbor River at Folsom index station. The monthly-mean discharge at South Branch Raritan River near High Bridge was 319 ft³/s, 188 percent of normal. The monthly-mean discharge of the Great Egg Harbor River at Folsom was 103 ft³/s, 96.3 percent of normal. The monthly mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton was 31,640 ft³/s, 226 percent of normal. Monthly-mean flows for February at both the South Branch Raritan River near High Bridge and Delaware River at Trenton gages were slightly higher than the previous record high flows set in 1925 and 1951 respectively. The observed daily mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton on February 29 was 21,500 ft³/s.

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

Water quality parameters collected from the Delaware River at Trenton were within recorded historical monthly extremes. Water temperature ranged from 0.2 to 4.9 degrees Celsius. Dissolved oxygen ranged from 10.7 to 13.9 milligrams per liter. Specific conductance ranged from 114 to 280 microsiemens per centimeter at 25°C.

Note: The preceding data is preliminary and subject to revision.

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