National Ground Water Monitoring Network- New Jersey Pilot

The Subcommittee on Ground Water (SOGW) is a subgroup of the federal Advisory Committee on Water Information (ACWI) working to develop a National Ground Water Monitoring Network (NGWMN).  ACWI has approved the SOGW report “A National Framework for Ground Water Monitoring in the United States”, which proposes the NGWMN.  In January 2010, five pilot projects were initiated to test the concepts of the National Framework Document. New Jersey was selected as one of the NGWMN pilots.

The New Jersey pilot designated four networks selected from sites in a cooperative program between the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. These networks are: a long term water-level monitoring network, a synoptic water-level network with a frequency of 5-year measurements, a water-quality network to monitor shallow groundwater quality under various land uses, and a chloride monitoring network. The New Jersey pilot project evaluated the distribution of wells, well measurement and sampling frequencies, field practices, database elements, data management procedures, and overall network costs.  Data from the USGS National Water Information System database was linked to a web-based data portal prototype developed to serve data from pilots. 

A report was prepared that summarized the New Jersey Pilot effort. This report describes the New Jersey network, identifies spatial and procedural gaps, and suggests changes to the Framework document. Spatial gaps in data were identified in the water-quality and long-term water-level monitoring networks in several Principal aquifers. Procedural gaps were identified primarily related to the frequency of sampling or measurement on surveillance networks. Suggestions for changes to the Framework document included reducing the frequency of measurements for surveillance networks, expanding well eligibility requirements, reducing the number of required data elements in databases, and clarifying definitions of network types.  Costs for a NGWMN were developed based on New Jersey’s network costs.