Hydrologic Assessment of Three Drainage Basins in the Pinelands of Southern New Jersey, 2004?06

The New Jersey Pinelands is an ecologically diverse area in the southern New Jersey Coastal Plain, most of which overlies the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system. The demand for groundwater from this aquifer system is increasing as local development increases. Because any increase in groundwater withdrawals has the potential to affect streamflows and wet- land water levels, and ultimately threaten the ecological health and diversity of the Pinelands ecosystem, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Jersey Pinelands Com- mission, began a multi-phase hydrologic investigation in 2004 to characterize the hydrologic system supporting the aquatic and wetland communities of the New Jersey Pinelands area (Pinelands). The current investigation of the hydrology of three representative drainage basins in the Pinelands (Alb- ertson Brook, McDonalds Branch, and Morses Mill Stream basins) included a compilation of existing data; collection of water-level and streamflow data; mapping of the water-table altitude and depth to the water table; and analyses of water- level and streamflow variability, subsurface gradients and flow patterns, and water budgets.