Raritan River

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Raritan River
Raritan River as seen from Highland Park
Country United States
State New Jersey
Region Central New Jersey
Municipality Bridgewater,
Raritan,
Somerville,
Bound Brook,
South Bound Brook,
Piscataway,
Franklin Township,
New Brunswick,
Highland Park,
Edison,
East Brunswick,
Sayreville,
Woodbridge,
Perth Amboy,
South Amboy
Tributaries
 - left Peters Brook, Cuckles Brook, Middle Brook,
Green Brook, Mill Brook, Red Root Creek,
Crows Mill Creek
 - right Dukes Brook, Millstone River, Fox Creek,
Mile Run, Lawrence Brook, South River
Source South Branch Raritan River and
North Branch Raritan River
 - location Bridgewater
 - elevation 47.7 ft (15 m) [1]
 - coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Mouth Raritan Bay
 - elevation 0 ft (0 m)
 - coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Length 30 mi (48 km) [2]
Basin 1,100 sq mi (2,849 km2) [2]
Discharge for Bound Brook
 - average 1,070 cu ft/s (30 m3/s) [3]
 - max 10,800 cu ft/s (306 m3/s) [3]
 - min 100 cu ft/s (3 m3/s) [3]

The Raritan River is a major river of central New Jersey in the United States. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean.

Description

Raritan River watershed: empties near Staten Island in Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean.

The river forms at the confluence of the North and South Branches just west of Somerville at the border of Bridgewater, Branchburg, and Hillsborough Townships. It flows for approximately 16 mi (25.7 km) before slowing in tidewater at New Brunswick, and its estuary extends 14 mi (22.5 km) more entering the western end of Raritan Bay at South Amboy.[2]

The river has served an important water transportation route since the Pre-Columbian era. The name Raritan is also applied to the Raritan people, an Algonquian tribe that inhabited Staten Island, near the river's mouth. In colonial days, the river allowed the development of early industry around New Brunswick, as well as the transportation of agricultural materials from central New Jersey. During the American Revolutionary War, the river provided a means for troop conveyance. The construction of the Delaware and Raritan Canal along the right (south) bank of the river provided a critical link between New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the Delaware River.

Comprehensive measures have been taken to reduce the pollution and increase the water quality. These actions have benefited the fish population which include (but are not limited to) largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, sunfish, catfish, trout, chain pickerel, american eels, carp and yellow perch. Pike can be found in relative abundance in some portions of the river like Clinton and Califon. An occasional Musky have been taken out of the Raritan as well. The tidal portions of the river host migratory salt water species such as striped bass, fluke, winter flounder, weakfish and bluefish. Recently efforts to restore anadromous fish populations have been made, this is done by removing many of the obsolete dams and the constructing dam bypass infrastructure. Hopefully this will result in restoring shad, striped bass, and sturgeon populations in the river. Many nesting birds and water fowl make their homes in and along the length of the river. Crustaceans such as blue claw crab, fiddler crabs and green crabs are also found in the tidal sections of the river. Crayfish can be found farther upstream.

The river is also used for recreational boating, including use by the rowing team of Rutgers University in New Brunswick. The river is featured in the title of Rutgers' alma mater, On the Banks of the Old Raritan, and its flooding is mentioned in the song.[4] The musical 1776 mentions troops bathing in the Raritan River.

Geologists assert that approximately 6,000 years ago the lower Raritan provided the course of the mouth of the Hudson River. Following the end of the last ice age, the Narrows had not yet been formed and the Hudson flowed along the Watchung Mountains to present-day Bound Brook, then followed the course of the Raritan eastward into Lower New York Bay.

Near its mouth, the river is spanned by a New Jersey Transit railroad bridge which carries the North Jersey Coast Line; the Victory Bridge which carries Route 35 (connecting Perth Amboy and Sayreville, New Jersey); the Edison Bridge, which carries U.S. Route 9 (connecting Woodbridge Township and Sayreville); and the Driscoll Bridge, which carries the Garden State Parkway (connecting Woodbridge Township and Sayreville).

Water supply

The Raritan River is an important source of drinking water for the central portion of New Jersey. Two water purification plants, operated by New Jersey American Water, are located where the Raritan River and its largest tributary (the Millstone River) meet just east of Manville, New Jersey.

At times of drought and low water flow rates, the flow rate in the Raritan River is enhanced by planned discharges from the Round Valley Reservoir and Spruce Run Reservoir, both of which are located close to the South Branch of the Raritan River in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, and are connected to the river via outflow pipes/channels. The water levels are boosted so downstream water purification facilities will have adequate water supplies in times of drought.

Flooding

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File:Raritan Flooding from Irene.jpg
Flooding damage from Tropical Storm Irene in New Brunswick, NJ
File:Boundbrook041607.jpg
The Raritan River flooding Bound Brook, Spring Nor'easter, April 16, 2007
File:RaritanRiver1948.PNG
A gauge inspector and the Manville gage house built into Van Veghten's Bridge abutment during the Raritan River flood of December 31, 1948

The Raritan River has persistent flooding problems when excessive rain from storms affects the river basin. The flooding problems mainly affect the town of Bound Brook, which is partially built on a natural flood plain at the junction of several tributaries, and Manville, which has a large neighborhood known as Lost Valley that lies on the flood plain between the Raritan River and its largest tributary river, which is known as the Millstone River. Other towns in the Raritan River basin also experience flooding to a lesser degree.

Record flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Floyd in September 1999 (42.13 ft (13.1 m) flood crest, 14 ft (4.6 m) above flood stage) caused renewed interest in a flood control project called the Green Brook Flood Control Project, which will essentially protect Bound Brook from a 150 year flood. Two levees have been built on the perimeter of Bound Brook, but the main levee necessary to keep the Raritan River from flooding the town has not been built as of early 2007 and is not scheduled to be completed for at least another five years.

In August 2011, record flooding occurred once again after Hurricane Irene swept through the area. This problem was exacerbated due to the fact that well-above average rainfall had occurred in the weeks before the storm hit.[5]

Communities on the Raritan

(In alphabetical order)

Tributaries

The Raritan river is formed by the confluence of:

Its main tributaries are:

Others are:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ A verse of the song runs, "for has she not stood since the time of the flood/On the banks of the old Raritan"
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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