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Summary of May 2008 Monthly Hydrologic Conditions

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

May 2008

Precipitation was above normal at the Newark and Atlantic City index stations, but below normal at the Trenton index station. Newark reported 3.95 inches, which is 88.57 percent of normal. Atlantic City reported 4.59 inches, which is 135.8 percent of normal. Trenton reported 4.83 inches, which is 128.8 percent of normal. Total precipitation over the past 12 months was: 50.29 inches at Newark, which is 4.04 inches above normal; 43.57 inches at Atlantic City, which is 2.98 inches above normal; and 39.93 inches at Trenton, which is -1.46 inches below normal.

Combined storage in the thirteen major water supply reservoirs as of May 31 was 77.50 billion gallons (96.4 percent of capacity), which is higher than the average May contents for the reference period 1961-1990. The storage was -1.053 billion gallons lower than one month ago and 0.896 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 below normal at all three index stations. The monthly-mean discharge at South Branch Raritan River near High Bridge was 127 ft³/s, 74.3 percent of normal. The monthly-mean discharge of the Great Egg Harbor River at Folsom was 85.8 ft³/s, 84.1 percent of normal. The monthly mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton was 10290 ft³/s, 66.8 percent of normal. The observed daily mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton on May 31 was 6320 ft³/s.

Groundwater levels, as measured in water-table observation wells for the month of May, were below normal at Vocational School index wells, and above normal at the Readington School and the Morrell 1 index well. Levels increased from last month at both the Readington School and Vocational School index wells, but decreased from last month at the Morrell 1 index well. Levels were higher than one year ago at the Readington School and Morrell 1 index wells, but lower than one year ago at the Vocational School index station.

Water quality parameters collected from the Delaware River at Trenton were within recorded historical monthly extremes. Water temperature ranged from 21.5 to 12.5 degrees Celsius. Dissolved oxygen ranged from 12.4 to 8.6 milligrams per liter. Specific conductance ranged from 221 to 174 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