Estuaries

USGS monitors data for estuary and back-bay areas all along the New Jersey coast and links to related projects with more information about coastal flood hazards, water quality, and other topics. The USGS operates the most extensive satellite network of tide-gaging stations in the region, many of which form the backbone of flood-warning systems. The USGS provides current ("real-time") water-level...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and other partners, is conducting an extensive, coordinated study of physical, chemical, and biological processes in the Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor estuary. The study integrates findings of teams from the USGS New Jersey Water Science Center and USGS Coastal and Marine Science...

Frequently, water withdrawals for public supply are made from the freshwater reaches of rivers and streams across new Jersey. Overall, there is a lack of scientific information describing the movement of saltwater upstream into the tributaries discharging into Delaware Bay. This project is beginning to collect water quality data along three selected tributaries in New Jersey to Delaware Bay in an...

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...

Hurricane Sandy made a variety of impacts along the highly populated northeastern Atlantic seaboard in October 2012. Improved understanding of these impacts will better prepare us for the next one. As a result the USGS science provides a strong foundation for decision makers, planners and resource managers.

Pesticides were observed frequently in water, sediment, and the tissue of resident aquatic organisms from an agriculturally dominated estuary along the central California coast according to a collaborative study by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and University of California, Davis scientists published in Marine Pollution Bulletin .

USGS will provide technical support to the Delaware River Basin Commission in preparation of the State of the Estuary / State of the Basin Technical reports during calendar years 2010 and 2011.

Demand for water in the southeast New Jersey area is expected to increase as growth continues in the area. Supplying these demands while maintaining adequate streamflow and protecting the long-term resources in the Atlantic City 800-foot sand will require effective water resource management.

Elevated levels of bacteria, nutrients, and suspended sediments exceeding MCLs is of concern for a number of New Jersey streams. Uncontrolled, non-point (NPS) pollution from increasing commercial and residential land development throughout the State is of special concern. For effective placement of appropriate best management practices (BMPs) and the establishment of TMDLs, water-resource managers...

Newark Bay and Hudson River are important port terminals in the northeast United States. These waterways require constant remedial dredging to keep them open for shipping. The sediments in these harbors, however, are known to be contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyl's (PCB's), dioxins/furans, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH's), metals, and other compounds. In order to reduce future need for...

PCBs contamination is a problem in the Delaware Estuary. Levels of PCBs being contributed from the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers is unknown. The goal of this study is to quantify concentrations and types of PCBs in the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers.