U.S. Geological Survey |
New
Jersey District |
U.S. Geological Survey |
New
Jersey District |
It is interesting how perceptions and needs haven't changed much since 1894, just the wording --
"The need of wholesome water for household consumption, as also good water for use in the arts, has prompted many inquiries about the available sources from which steady and abundant supplies of such water may be had, and the large number of these inquiries has demonstrated the necessity of gathering all of the facts relative to the occurrence of waters on the surface and in the earthy and rocky beds under it" (from Cornelius Vermeule, 1894, Geological Survey of New Jersey, Report on Water Supply-- Water power, the flow of streams and attendant phenomena).
Since the time of Vermeule, the LINJ study area has continued to grow and is one of the more densely populated areas of the nation. The 1990 population of the 6,000 square mile study unit is more than 10 million people, concentrated particularly on Long Island and in northeastern New Jersey (figure 1) . There is almost two centuries of a strong and prosperous industrial economy supported by this population, largely centered around the ports of New York City and Philadelphia. There also is a very productive agricultural heritage around the fringes of these metropolitan areas and in the more rural areas of southern and western NJ and eastern LI (Land use, figure 2a). These fringe areas, however, are rapidly becoming urban and suburban communities (figure 2b). Currently, agriculture accounts for 12% of the land use in the study area. The remaining 88% is split about equal between urban and forest/wetland/other. There was a 9% increase in urban and subsequent decrease in forest and agricultural land uses between 1973 and 1990. The population growth for the same period was about 8%.
About two-thirds of the study area (figure 3) is in the Coastal Plain and is characterized by flat to gently rolling topography of unconsolidated sedimentary (NJ and LI) and glacial (LI only) deposits, extensive aquifer systems, and streams dominated by ground-water discharge. The other one-third, north of the Fall Line in northeast NJ (the Piedmont and New England provinces) is characterized by rolling to hilly topography of weathered bedrock throughout and glacial deposits in the northern half of each, fractured bedrock or valley-fill aquifers, and streams dominated by surface-runoff.
Total withdrawals for water supply in the LINJ is 1,617 million
gallons per day. Surface water accounts for 37%, mostly in northeastern
NJ. Ground water accounts for 63%; 44% of which is in the LI Coastal Plain,
37% in NJ Coastal Plain, and 19% in northeastern NJ. Only 20 to 40% of
the total water use is ground water from the deeper, "confined" aquifers.
As a result, much of the water supply in the LINJ is from surface
water or surficial ground-water sources and is, therefore, highly
vulnerable to contamination.
The large population, extensive urban and industrial development, and, in some areas, agricultural activities are the main causes of water-quality problems. The LINJ liaison committee recognizes that the NAWQA program can provide additional data and understanding to facilitate development of management strategies of these problems. For our data rich study area, we believe the typical NAWQA design strategies for occurrence and 'multiple lines of evidence' coupled with the use of some modeling approaches will be quite effective in filling in some important data gaps. More so, these efforts should help in developing a better understanding of the principal sources and processes needed to address the more important issues.
For example, we hope to build extensive surface-water data sets
of nutrients, pesticides, VOCs, and biology for study area streams. The
data sets will not only be useful in relating contaminant occurrence
to land use, but we hope to tease out the major factors for observed
differences in aquatic communities from these 'multiple lines of
evidence'. We are also building an extensive data set for nutrients,
pesticides, and VOCs in ground water. When coupled with source and fate
studies (atmospheric, unsaturated, and flow path), this will allow us to
better relate shallow ground-water quality to land use, to help
identify
sources for and estimate the fate of specific contaminants,
and
perhaps say 'what systems are more vunerable and what might be
done about the problems'. We have made significant progress in FY96-98
towards that end. Link
to simple map and bullet summaries of LINJ study findings to date (Sept
1998)
Information related to NAWQA can be obtained from:
NAWQA Project Chief, USGS
810 Bear Tavern Road, Suite 206
West Trenton, New Jersey 08628
phone 609-771-3943
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