Water Supply

The water quality of New Jersey's water bodies is monitored by the USGS New Jersey Water Science Center to characterize waters, identify trends over time, identify emerging problems, determine whether pollution control programs are working, help direct pollution control efforts to where they are most needed, and respond to emergencies such as floods and spills.

The future health and welfare of the Nation's population and environment are dependent upon a continuing supply of uncontaminated fresh water. Increasing withdrawals and increasing demands for in-stream flows are limiting the water available for future use.

Harmful algal blooms with cyanotoxin production (CyanoHABs) have been shown to adversely affect water resources worldwide, however only a handful of studies have examined the occurrence and persistence of CyanoHABs in fluvial systems used for municipal water-supply. Of particular concern in New Jersey is the Raritan Basin Water Supply Complex (RBWSC) as it is the water supply for multiple water...

The purpose of the Program is to develop a sound understanding of the potential for development of potable groundwater supply in selected African countries and build local capacity to plan and conduct the hydrologic investigations and monitoring necessary to help ensure that groundwater resources are developed and managed efficiently and sustainably.

The US Geological Survey collaborated with Northern Arizona University and New Mexico State University in a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development-Kenya and East Africa Mission to investigate the use of satellite image data, along with hydrological and geological data sets, to research and develop maps of potential of groundwater resources in the Athi and Tana...

The US Geological Survey collaborated with Northern Arizona University and New Mexico State University in a project funded by the United States Agency for International Development-Kenya and East Africa Mission to investigate the use of satellite image data, along with hydrological and geological data sets, to research and develop maps of the potential of groundwater resources in southern Turkana...

An online geonarrative consisting of an interactive discussion and maps of the groundwater resources of 10 confined aquifers beneath Central and Southern New Jersey, provides a view of the geology, hydrology and water use in this area. A regional-scale groundwater-level survey of the New Jersey Coastal Plain by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is highlighted. These assessments, performed every 5...

Chloride concentrations in groundwater are measured in select wells on a 5-year cycle, as an early warning indicator of saltwater intrusion, and for the definition of the 250 mg/L chloride concentration line within the principal aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain.

The primary source of self-supplied domestic water use is from private wells which are often unmonitored. As a result, estimates of the quantities of water withdrawn are based off of relatively small amounts of data. To gain a better understanding of this type of water use, a project was initiated in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to meter private domestic...

The following terms have been used in one or more of the water-use publications. The comparison of water-use categories over the history of these reports may also help clarify the use of some of the terms.

The State of New Jersey strives to allocate water resources to meet human demands and ecological needs. The New Jersey Water Transfer Data Model (NJWaTr) is a database system that compiles, stores, and distributes New Jersey’s water use data for research and modeling purposes. NJWaTr helps officials understand the movement and uses of water throughout the State over time.

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.