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 August 2009 Monthly Hydrologic Conditions

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

August 2009

Precipitation was above normal at all three index stations. Newark reported 4.14 inches, which is 103.0 percent of normal.  Atlantic City reported 6.99 inches, which is 161.8 percent of normal.  Trenton reported 10.07 inches, which is 265.0 percent of normal. Total precipitation over the past 12 months was: 51.32 inches at Newark, which is 5.07 inches above normal; 53.60 inches at Atlantic City, which is 13.01 inches above normal; and 54.06 inches at Trenton, which is 12.67 inches above normal.

Combined storage in the thirteen major water supply reservoirs as of August 31 was 76.327 billion gallons 95.0 percent of capacity), which is 18.13 billion gallons higher than the average August contents for the reference period 1961-1990.  The storage was 1.327 billion gallons less than one month ago and 19.556 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 all three index stations. The monthly-mean discharge at South Branch Raritan River near High Bridge was 137 ft3/s, 182 percent of normal.  The monthly-mean discharge of the Great Egg Harbor River at Folsom was 103 ft3/s, 175 percent of normal.  The monthly mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton was 18130 ft3/s, 329 percent of normal. The observed daily mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton on August 31 was 12000 ft3/s. 

Ground-water levels, as measured in water-table observation wells for the month of August, were above normal at all three index wells. Levels increased from last month, and were higher than one year ago. The water levels at the Readington School 11, Morrell, and Vocational School 2 index wells were 8.65 ft, 2.98 ft, and 1.19 ft higher than last year, and 0.95 ft, 0.60 ft, and 0.66 ft higher than one month ago, respectively.

Water quality parameters collected from the Delaware River at Trenton were within recorded historical monthly extremes. Water temperature ranged from 20.8 to 26.6 degrees Celsius. Dissolved oxygen ranged from 7.3 to 9.1 milligrams per liter. Specific conductance ranged from 93 to 191 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