The Waters Around Me in the New Jersey Highlands

by Brian T. Lynch, MSW

Prologue

The New Jersey Highlands is a 60-mile-long stretch of the Appalachian Mountains that angle Northeast from Phillipsburg to Oakland in the state’s northwestern corner. It contains 860 thousand acres of forested ridges, rolling hills, and fertile valleys. More than half of the region is (thankfully) still covered in forests. The entire region serves as drainage basins for the Wallkill River to the north, the Delaware River to the West, The Passaic River to the East, and the Raritan River, which flows Southwest from the Highlands before turning East towards Perth Amboy and Raritan Bay.

Beneath the Highland's many valleys are glacier-fill (or unconfined) aquifers and aquifers trapped between layers of non-porous rock. Private and commercial wells tap these aquifers for use by people living in the region. Rainfall that percolates into the soil travels down to recharge these aquifers. Rainfall that doesn't evaporate or settle underground gets collected in a natural network of streams, rivers, and lakes. The loss of rainwater due to evaporation is significant, especially from farmland, open fields, and residential lawns.

A portion of surface water in the Highland's lakes, rivers, and streams fill the many reservoirs that supply drinking water to residents living outside the region. As a result, the Highlands carry about half of all the surface water used by farmers and residents in New Jersey. In all, two-thirds of New Jersey's 8.9 million people rely on the Highlands to supplies up to 374 million gallons of clean water per day. The primary reservoir systems supplying surface waters from the Highlands include the:

• Wanaque/Monksville Reservoir System, operated by the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission;
• Pequannock Watershed, owned by the City of Newark;
• Boonton/Split Rock Reservoir System, owned by Jersey City;
• Round Valley/Spruce Run Reservoir System, managed by the New Jersey Water Supply Authority.

Rain is the source of all life above the oceans. The Highland's rainwater that doesn't evaporate off the land, recharge our aquifers or fill our reservoirs flows back to the sea down the Delaware, Raritan, or the Passaic Rivers. In that process, these rivers support vast areas of habitat and wildlife upon which all life ultimately depends. During times of drought, a balance must be struck between the water we consume and the water needed to maintain our natural habitat downstream. We are inextricably tied to the life of every other living thing, whether we realize it or not. It isn't ultimately a competition between us and nature as many imagine, but a partnership with all living things that must be understood and respected.

Everyone who lives in the highlands is responsible for the life-giving water that flows from this region. The changes we make here, the land we clear, what and how we build on it, what we carelessly discarded or spread on our farmland and lawns, what we discharge in our streams; it all matters regardless of where you live in this region. 

In a recent blog, The Waters Below Me, I wrote about the valley-fill aquifers from which many Morris County residents draw their water. Rainfall on the Highlands replaces what we take when there is sufficient time and enough open land to filter down to the aquifers. Surface waters collect in drainage basins all around us to fill our rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. River water that we don't consume continues on to the sea providing life-giving water that supports the natural ecosystems in the northern half of the state. Preserving the quality of water in the Highlands is a vital need and a major responsibility that requires everyone's participation. 

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https://njhighlandscoalition.org/highlands-resources-historical-agricultural-natural/

https://www.nj.gov/njhighlands/master/