South Branch Raritan River Watershed History of the Region
What Is a Watershed?
The South Branch Raritan River Watershed
Municipalities In Our Watershed
Surface Waters in the South Branch Raritan River Watershed
Real Time Data
Find Your Watershed

History of the Region

The name "Raritan" came from the Native Amercian word "Laletan" meaning "forked river." The Native American villages of the Naraticongs were scattered along the shores of the river and they used the river as their chief mode of travel by canoe. Their foot trails followed the river on both sides. The fertile valley land furnished the Indians with an abundance of maize, beans, pumpkins, and other fruits. Even today, there are places where Native American relics may still be found.

The first white settlers of the area were the Dutch who reported this area as the "handsomest and pleasantest country that man can behold." The Dutch harnessed the waters of the river to furnish power for many grist mills. Few traces of these remain. However, the original charm and peacefulness of the river are still enjoyed.

Before the surrounding lands were denuded of their forest the river was deeper than it is now. Nonetheless, today it can still be traversed by canoe from a point just below High Bridge to the Raritan Bay.

What Is a Watershed?

Everyone lives in a watershed!

A watershed is an area of land draining into a body of water such as a stream, river, lake, or ocean. A watershed is defined by the high points of an area, such as hills and mountains without regard to town and county boundaries. All the water that falls within a watershed eventually drains into a common body of water, which is the point of lowest elevation within the watershed. As water travels through the watershed, it picks up materials, i.e., litter, oil, leaves, soil, hazardous substances, etc., and transports them down the watershed.

The use of the land within a watershed directly affects the quality of water within the watershed.

The South Branch Raritan River Watershed

The South Branch Raritan River watershed is 276 square miles covering three counties and all or part of 25 municipalities within central New Jersey. The South Branch Raritan River begins at Budd Lake in Mount Olive Township (Morris County, NJ) and flows for 51 miles down to Branchburg Township (Somerset County, NJ) where it joins the North Branch of the Raritan River to become the main stem of the Raritan River. Small streams, or tributaries, that flow into the South Branch Raritan River include Spruce Run, Turkey Brook, Mulhockaway Creek, Capoolong Creek, and the Third Neshanic River.

The South Branch Raritan River watershed is the origin, or headwaters, of the largest drainage area located entirely within New Jersey -- the 1,100 square mile Raritan River watershed. The two largest reservoirs in the state lie within the South Branch Raritan River watershed, Round Valley Reservoir and Spruce Run Reservoir. These reservoirs supply water to the populated cities to the north and east, not to the residents of the watershed. The residents of the South Branch watershed largely depend on groundwater for their water supply.

Municipalities in Our Watershed

	Municipality:		County:
	Alexandria Township		Hunterdon
	Bethlehem Township		Hunterdon
	Branchburg Township		Somerset
	Califon Borough		Hunterdon
	Chester Township		Morris
	Clinton Town		Hunterdon
	Clinton Township		Hunterdon
	Delaware Township		Hunterdon
	East Amwell Township		Hunterdon
	Flemington Borough		Hunterdon
	Franklin Township		Hunterdon
	Glen Gardner Borough		Hunterdon
	Hampton Borough		Hunterdon
	High Bridge Borough		Hunterdon
	Hillsborough Township		Somerset
	Lebanon Township		Hunterdon
	Mount Arlington Borough		Morris
	Mount Olive Township		Morris
	Raritan Township		Hunterdon
	Readington Township		Hunterdon
	Roxbury Township		Morris
	Tewksbury Township		Hunterdon
	Union Township		Hunterdon
	Washington Township		Morris
	West Amwell Township		Hunterdon

Surface Waters in the South Branch Raritan River Watershed

The following list shows the tributaries and water bodies of the South Branch of the Raritan River Watershed, along with their location and state ranking for Stormwater regulations (see Type code below):

Waterway	Municipality/Area (County)	Type
Allerton Creek	Clinton / Allerton-Hamden (Hunterdon)	C2, NT
Alpaugh Creek	Hampton-Glen Gardner (Hunterdon)	C1, TP
Assicong Creek	Franklin-Raritan / Cherryville (Hunterdon)	C2, NT
Back Brook	East Amwell / Ringoes-Hopewell (Hunterdon)	C2, NT
Beaver Brook	Clinton (Hunterdon)	C1, TP, TM
Beisler Brook	Lebanon (Hunterdon)
Beisler Lake	Lebanon (Hunterdon)
Black Brook	Union / Polktown (Hunterdon)	C1, TP
Branch Back Brook	East Amwell / Ringoes (Hunterdon)	C2, NT
Budd Lake	Mt. Olive (Morris)	C1, NT
Bushkill Brook	Raritan / Rockefellows Mills (Hunterdon)	C2, NT
Capoolong Creek [Cakepoulin Creek]	Franklin / Sydney (Hunterdon)	C1, TP
Cramers Creek [Chambers Creek]	Clinton / Hamden-Allerton (Hunterdon)	C2, TM
Drakes Brook	Roxbury / Ledgewood (Morris) Mt. Olive / Flanders (Morris)	C1, TM, NT
Electric Brook	Washington / Long Valley (Morris)	C1, TP
First Neshanic River	Raritan (Hunterdon)	C2, NT
Frog Hollow Brook	Fox Hill / Califon-Tewksbury (Hunterdon)	C1, TP
George Lake	Washington / Schooley’s Mt. Park (Morris)	C1, TP
Hickory Run	Lebanon / Woodglen-SW of Califon (Hunterdon)	C1, TP
Holland Brook	Readington-Branchburg (Hunterdon-Somerset)	C2, NT
Hollow Brook	Lebanon / Teetertown (Hunterdon)	C1, TP
Jutland Lake	Union / Jutland / Perryville (Hunterdon)
Lingerts Pond [DeMott Pond]	Clinton Town (Hunterdon)
Little Brook	Lebanon / near Califon (Hunterdon)	C1, TP
Minneakoning Brook	Raritan / Flemington Junction (Hunterdon)	C2, NT
Mullhockaway Creek	Union / Pattenberg (Hunterdon)	C1, TP
Neshanic River	Raritan-East Amwell (Hunterdon-Somerset)	C2, NT
Pleasant Run	Readington-Branchburg (Hunterdon-Somerset)	C2, NT
Prescott Brook	Clinton / Stanton Station (Hunterdon)	C2, TM
Rocky Run	Lebanon / Hagedorn Center (Hunterdon)	C1, TP
Round Valley Reservoir	Clinton (Hunterdon)	C1, TP
Second Neshanic River	Raritan (Hunterdon)	C2, NT
Sidney Brook	Union-Franklin / Grandin (Hunterdon)	C1, TP
Solitude Lake	High Bridge (Hunterdon)
Spruce Run	Glen Gardner (Hunterdon)	C1, TP, TM
Spruce Run Reservoir	Union / High Bridge-Clinton Town (Hunterdon)	C1, TM
Stony Brook	Washington (Morris)	C1, TP
Third Neshanic River	Raritan / Sand Brook (Hunterdon)	C2, NT
Turkey Brook	Mt. Olive (Morris)	C1, TP
Walnut Brook	Raritan (Hunterdon)	C2, TM
Willoughby	Lebanon / Buffalo Hollow (Hunterdon)	C1, TP

Classification Key for Type:
C1 = Category One C2 = Category Two		TP = Trout Production TM = Trout Maintenance NT = Non-trout

Real Time Data

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) has more than 100 stream gauges located around the state that measure real-time stream flow and stream level. More than 25 of these sites are located in the Raritan Basin and seven of those are within the South Branch watershed. These gauges help us to better understand the river. They are also valuable for fishermen, paddlers and other recreational river users.

The USGS website states:

“Real-time data typically are recorded at 6-60 minute intervals, stored onsite, and then transmitted to USGS offices every 1 to 4 hours, depending on the data relay technique used. Transmission times may be more frequent during critical events. Data from real-time sites are relayed to USGS offices via satellite, telephone, and/or radio and are available for viewing within minutes of arrival.”

The South Branch gauges are located throughout the watershed. Hotlinks to the data are provided below:

USGS Code	Stream Name	Location
01396190	South Branch River	Four Bridges in Washington Township, Morris County
01396500	South Branch River	High Bridge Borough, Hunterdon County
01396582	Spruce Run	Glen Gardner Borough, Hunterdon County
01396660	Mulhockaway Creek	Van Syckel in Union Township, Hunterdon County
01396800	Spruce Run	Clinton Town, Hunterdon County
01397000	South Branch River	Stanton Station in Raritan Township, Hunterdon County
01398000	Neshanic River	Reaville in Raritan Township, Hunterdon County

Find Your Watershed

Not sure what watershed you live in? Enter your zip code to get information about the watershed(s) in that area.