Advanced Capabilities and Modeling

The USGS New Jersey Water Science Center conducts research and investigations related to topics such as groundwater and surface-water quality related to anthropogenic and agricultural activities, hydraulic and hydrologic modeling, tracking the movement of groundwater contamination, groundwater resource assessments and modeling, ecological assessments and response to urbanization, and estimating...

These archive pages document the first phase of the National Water Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program (Cycle I) studies in New Jersey, including summary documents, work plans, study sites, maps and publications.

Following Hurricane Sandy, the USGS began construction of an overland Surge, Wave, and Tide Hydrodynamics (SWaTH) Network along the Northeastern Atlantic Coast from North Carolina to Maine. This network, developed collaboratively with numerous partners, features the integration of long-term tide gage networks, with real-time rapid-deployment gages (RDG) and mobile storm-tide sensors (STS). An...

The NJWSC conducts research and investigations related to topics such as groundwater and surface-water quality related to anthropogenic and agricultural activities, hydraulic and hydrologic modeling, tracking the movement of groundwater contamination, groundwater resource assessments and modeling, ecological assessments and response to urbanization, and estimating water-use for human and...

The series of surficial aquifer studies were completed to evaluate the unconfined aquifer system of the NJ Coastal Plain for use as a potential source of water. As the demand for water in the State increases and the restrictions continue on the use of water from certain confined aquifers, withdrawals on the unconfined aquifer system are expected to increase. Detailed study of the unconfined...

Streamflow data collection and analysis are a necessary component of effective water resource management and planning. Low-flow statistics are needed to safely allow withdrawals from and discharges to surface waters in the State of New Jersey. Operating streamflow gaging stations at every water use location would be ideal but is cost prohibitive. Statistics help extend the utility of available...

The New Jersey Pine Barrens, or Pinelands National Reserve (PNR), is a vast and unique ecosystem comprising approximately a 938,000-acre area of southern New Jersey. It spans portions of seven counties (Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Ocean), and all or part of 56 municipalities. It is home to dozens of rare plant and animal species, and the Kirkwood-Cohansey...

Simulation of Groundwater Mounding beneath Hypothetical Stormwater Infiltration Basins

The NJ Coastal Plain RASA (Regional Aquifer System Analysis) model (in this document referred to simply as “the RASA model”) is one of the most widely used models by hydrologists in the NJWSC. This model was developed as part of the RASA program, which was started in 1978 after a congressional mandate to develop quantitative appraisals of the major groundwater systems of the United States.

The hydroecological integrity assessment process (HIP) has been fully developed for the State of New Jersey (NJHIP). The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection is in the process of applying ecologically relevant ecological flow goals (ERHI's) from the NJHIP to current and future regulation of New Jersey streams. It is the goal of NJDEP to evaluate potential impacts of a proposed water...

Gasoline spills from leaking underground storage tanks is the most common mechanism of subsurface point source contamination. The U.S. Geological Survey's Toxic Substances Hydrology Program investigated the fate and transport of hydrocarbons in the unsaturated zone and shallow groundwater at a gasoline-spill site in Galloway Township, New Jersey.