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Summary of January 2009 Monthly Hydrologic Conditions

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

January 2009

Precipitation was below normal at all three index stations. Newark reported 2.86 inches, which is 71.86 percent of normal.  Atlantic City reported 2.76 inches, which is 76.67 percent of normal.  Trenton reported 2.50 inches, which is 77.88 percent of normal. Total precipitation over the past 12 months was: 49.39 inches at Newark, which is 3.14 inches above normal; 47.14 inches at Atlantic City, which is 6.55 inches above normal; and 46.23 inches at Trenton, which is 4.84 inches above normal.

Combined storage in the thirteen major water supply reservoirs as of January 31 was 73.76 billion gallons (91.73 percent of capacity), which is greater than the average January contents for the reference period 1961-1990.  The storage was 0.081 billion gallons less than one month ago and 9.346 billion gallons more 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 slightly above normal at the Delaware River at Trenton index station, and below normal at the other two index stations. The monthly-mean discharge at South Branch Raritan River near High Bridge was 111 ft3/s, 63.8 percent of normal.  The monthly-mean discharge of the Great Egg Harbor River at Folsom was 107 ft3/s, 99.1 percent of normal.  The monthly mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton was 13700 ft3/s, 100.7 percent of normal. The observed daily mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton on January 31 was 9990 ft3/s.

Groundwater levels, as measured in water-table observation wells for the month of January, were above normal at the Readington School 11 and Morrell 1 wells, located in northern New Jersey. Levels were below normal at the Vocational School 2 well, located in southern New Jersey. Levels at the Readington School 11 well decreased from last month, and were lower than one year ago. Levels at the Morrell 1 well remained the same as last month, but were higher than one year ago.  Levels at the Vocational School 2 increased from last month, but were lower than one year ago.

Water quality parameters collected from the Delaware River at Trenton were within recorded historical monthly extremes. Water temperature ranged from 0.0 to 2.6 degrees Celsius. Dissolved oxygen ranged from 13.3 to 14.9 milligrams per liter. Specific conductance ranged from 143 to 287 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