Groundwater Resources of the New Jersey Coastal Plain

Media

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

An online geonarrative consisting of an interactive discussion and maps of the groundwater resources of 10 confined aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain provides a view of the geology, hydrology and water use in this area. A regional-scale 2013 groundwater-level assessment of the New Jersey Coastal Plain by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is highlighted. These assessments, performed every 5 years, provide an overview of groundwater conditions that help water resource managers to identify vulnerabilities of the fresh water supply and ensure groundwater sustainability for current and future use.  

Millions of people and businesses are dependent on groundwater from the confined aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain for water supply.  The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, created an online, interactive geonarrative that depicts groundwater resources of the New Jersey Coastal Plain.  Clickable map layers display potentiometric-surface contours, well construction details, measured groundwater levels, groundwater-level hydrographs at wells, population trends by county, and water use by aquifer and county. 

Link to geonarrative: njcp_groundwater_resources (usgs.gov) 

This interactive geonarrative provides an easy to use and informative interface that combines written summaries and maps displaying the distribution of groundwater levels. Users can compare groundwater level trends and magnitude at wells to population and water use county-wide summaries. Potentiometric-surface maps of the confined Cohansey aquifer of Cape May County, the Rio Grande water-bearing zone, Atlantic City 800-foot sand, Piney Point aquifer, Vincentown aquifer, Wenonah-Mount Laurel aquifer, Englishtown aquifer system, and upper, middle, and lower aquifers of the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system indicate where persistent, regionally extensive cones of depression occur.  

The USGS NJ Water Science Center began mapping the major confined Coastal Plain aquifers in 1978, reevaluating the same aquifers every 5 years since to provide regional assessments of groundwater conditions and water-level trends over time. During late 2013, USGS, measured and evaluated groundwater levels in 10 confined aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain at 983 wells located in New Jersey, and adjacent parts of Pennsylvania and Delaware. The potentiometric surface maps are a tool for visualizing the directions of groundwater flow and indicate the impact of groundwater withdrawals that total about 190 million gallons per day from the 10 confined aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain.

Media

Sources/Usage: Public Domain. View Media Details

The geonarrative uses data from the 2013 assessment. For conditions from other years and for additional information about this project, please visit the Water Levels in the Ten Major Confined Aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain webpage.