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Summary of September 2009 Monthly Hydrologic Conditions

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

September 2009

Precipitation was below normal at the Newark index station and above normal at the Trenton and the Atlantic City index stations. Newark reported 1.73 inches, which is 43.14 percent of normal.  Atlantic City reported 6.94 inches, which is 221 percent of normal.  Trenton reported 4.58 inches, which is 134 percent of normal. Total precipitation over the past 12 months was: 45.91 inches at Newark, which is -0.34 inches below normal; 55.24 inches at Atlantic City, which is 14.65 inches above normal; and 52.21 inches at Trenton, which is 10.82 inches below normal.

Combined storage in the thirteen major water supply reservoirs as of September 30 was 69.883 billion gallons (86.4 percent of capacity), which is higher than the average September contents for the reference period 1961-1990.  The storage was -6.443 billion gallons less than one month ago and 9.958 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 above normal at the Great Egg Harbor River at Folsom and Delaware River at Trenton index stations, and below normal at the South Branch Raritan river at High Bridge index station. The monthly-mean discharge at South Branch Raritan River near High Bridge was 58.2 ft3/s, 70.5 percent of normal.  The monthly-mean discharge of the Great Egg Harbor River at Folsom was 106 ft3/s, 189 percent of normal.  The monthly mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton was 6922 ft3/s, 108 percent of normal. The observed daily mean discharge of the Delaware River at Trenton on September 30 was 6210 ft3/s. 

Ground-water levels, as measured in water-table observation wells for the month of September, were above normal at all three index wells. Levels increased from last month at the Morrell 1 and Vocational School index wells, but decreased from last month at the Readington School 11 index well. Levels were higher than one year ago at all three index wells. The water levels at the Readington School 11 index well were 4.78 ft higher than last year, but -3.25 ft lower than one month ago. The water levels at the Morrell, and Vocational School 2 index wells were 0.71 ft, and 1.32 ft higher than last year, and 0.53 ft,  and 0.16 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 16.4 to 23.1 degrees Celsius. Dissolved oxygen ranged from 7.7 to 14.4 milligrams per liter. Specific conductance ranged from 186 to 256 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