llk. All sites

checked against

monthly historical

average calculated

for the period 

of record for 

each site

llk. All sites

checked against

annual historical

average calculated 

for the period of

record for each site

llj, llk. Any 

site-month-year records found 

to be problematic (over

allocation limit or significantly 

different than the historical 

average) are investigated

and corrected as necessary.

Any changes are documented

and flagged. Both values 

remain in database, corrected

values become preferred 

values and original values 

become non-preferred values

VI, VII. All corrected and original data

are formatted into templates that get 

uploaded into NJWaTr database. New sites

and conveyances are generated with accompanying

site metadata and populated into appropriate site

templates to be uploaded into NJWaTr database

Data that are summed 

on monthly basis

Data that are summed 

on annual basis

lljii. Monthly

sums checked

against 

monthly

permit 

allocations

llji. Annual 

sums checked 

against

annual permit

allocations

llji, lljii. All sites

summed annually

and monthly by

BWA permit

llh. Associate

remaining 

existing sites

with SiteName from

NJWaTr site_tbl

using BWA_UID

llgiii. Determine

which sites belong

to which groups and

make decisions on

sites/groups to 

keep/delete to 

eliminate double reporting

llg. Run groups

and members 

procedure

l. Download files

received from 

NJDEP BWA

lla, llb, llc. 

Format files,

making current

year table in

long format

lld. Look for

duplicate sites

lle, llf. Submit

new non-zero

sites to USGS DBA

for NWIS site 

number creation

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Open-File Report 2020–1085

Prepared in cooperation with New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure for 

New Jersey’s Water-Use Data for the New Jersey Water 

Transfer Data System (NJWaTr)
Cover: Figure 1 in the report.
Quality Assurance/Quality Control 

Procedure for New Jersey’s Water-Use 

Data for the New Jersey Water Transfer 

Data System (NJWaTr)

By Jennifer L. Shourds

Prepared in cooperation with New Jersey Department of Environmental 

Protection

Open-File Report 2020–1085

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Department of the Interior

DAVID BERNHARDT, Secretary

U.S. Geological Survey

James F. Reilly II, Director

U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2020

For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, 

natural hazards, and the environment—visit https://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS.

For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit 

https://store.usgs.gov/.

Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. 

Government.

Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials 

as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner.

Suggested citation:

Shourds, J.L., 2020, Quality assurance/quality control procedure for New Jersey’s water-use data for the New Jersey 

Water Transfer Data System (NJWaTr): U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2020–1085, 26 p., https://doi.org/ 

10.3133/ ofr20201085.

ISSN 2331-1258 (online)
iii

Preface

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has been involved in a cooperative project with the New 

Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) relating to the New Jersey Water 

Transfer Data System since 2004. The quality assurance/quality control procedure described in 

this document is executed on data received from the NJDEP Bureau of Water Allocation, and 

the data are therefore owned by the State of New Jersey. The USGS assumes no responsibility 

for the long-term preservation and accessibility of these data under Open Data guidelines that 

pertain to U.S. Government data products.
iv

Acknowledgments

The author gratefully acknowledges the many contributions and cooperation of Steve Domber, 

Ian Snook, and Kent Barr of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Geological 

and Water Survey. Thanks also go to Mike Bleicher, Carol Olynyk, and Yvens Dessalines of the 

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Water Allocation for providing 

the data. The author thanks Martha Watt and Cheryl Dieter of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 

for their extensive colleague reviews; their comments and suggestions were very helpful in 

revising this report. The author also appreciates the assistance and suggestions of Jon Janowicz 

(USGS) in the early draft stages of this report. Credit and gratitude are given to Mary Chepiga 

(USGS) for her creation of, and contributions to, the allocation limit tool. The author would like 

to acknowledge and thank Steve Tessler (USGS) for his contributions to the design and structure 

of the New Jersey Water Transfer System Database & Tools and Don Rice (USGS) for his help 

with the wastewater data procedure. 
v

Contents

Preface ...........................................................................................................................................................iii

Acknowledgments........................................................................................................................................iv

Abstract...........................................................................................................................................................1

Introduction.....................................................................................................................................................1

Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data ............................2

 Withdrawal Data...................................................................................................................................2

Obtain and Process Source Data .......................................................................................................5

New Site Identification Creation and Vetting for Duplicates ........................................................6

Groups and Members Procedure ......................................................................................................7

Linking Current Year’s Sites to Pre-Existing Sites in NJWaTr .....................................................12

Handling Null Volume Withdrawal Data .........................................................................................12

Analysis of Data by Permit ................................................................................................................13

Comparing Current Year’s Data to Permit Allocation Limits (Annual and Monthly) .................13

Comparing the Current Year’s Data to Historical Data .................................................................14

Incorporating Updates to the Historical Dataset ..........................................................................14

Estimating Nulls and Missing Data ..................................................................................................15

Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) and Surface-Water Returns Data ..................................15

Wastewater Discharge Data ............................................................................................................19

Final Processing of All Quality Assured Data, Including New Sites ..........................................20

Glossary.........................................................................................................................................................21

References Cited..........................................................................................................................................22

Appendix 1 Selected Publications that Include Data from New Jersey Water Transfer 

Data System (NJWaTr) .................................................................................................................23

Figures

1. Schematic diagram showing a flow chart summarizing the quality assurance/

quality control procedure for withdrawal data received from the New Jersey

Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Water Allocation ...............................3

2. Screen shot showing example list of files received from the New Jersey

Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Water Allocation ...............................5

3. Example table showing format and appearance of the raw NJEMS data file ...................6

4. The form used to run the AllocPreProcessor procedure that generates the

SiteGroupPercent table ...............................................................................................................7

5. Schematic diagram showing the basics of allocation permitting and depicting

how groups are made up of sites ...............................................................................................8

6. Schematic diagram showing an example of the contents of a permit and how

its members, made up of sites and groups, relate to the original permit ............................8

7. Schematic diagram showing an example of the contents of a permit and its

members and how the allocation processor works to calculate the percent that

each site contributes to the group’s overall allocation limit(s) or its site percent ............9

8. Schematic diagram showing example results from the full allocation process,

as run on 2006 data .....................................................................................................................10

9. Screen shot showing an example of the SiteGroupPercent table .....................................11
vi

10. Screen shot showing an example of a group total that differs from the site total ..........11

11. Example table with group and site totals that are not equal, decisions made

about keeping the sites’ monthly records or the group’s monthly records, and

current and historical rationales for decisions .....................................................................12

12. Example of raw data from the file WATER STORED UNITS MI 01012003 TO

MMDDYYYY.csv as received in the electronic dataset delivery from the Bureau

of Water Allocation.....................................................................................................................16

13. Example of the “from” and “to” NJWaTr SiteNames for the conveyance of a

stored water transfer .................................................................................................................16

14. Example of raw data from the file WATER RECOVERED ASR UNIT MI 01012003

TO MMDDYYYY.csv as received in the electronic dataset delivery from the

Bureau of Water Allocation ......................................................................................................17

15. Example of the “from” and “to” NJWaTr SiteNames for the conveyance of a

recovered water transfer ..........................................................................................................17

16. Example of raw data from the file WATER RETURNED UNITS MI 01012003 TO

MMDDYYYY.csv as received in the electronic dataset delivery from the Bureau

of Water Allocation.....................................................................................................................18

17. Example of the “from” and “to” NJWaTr SiteNames for the conveyance of a

surface-water return transfer ..................................................................................................18

Tables

1. Examples of changes to the annual withdrawal totals resulting from the Quality

Assurance/Quality Control effort ...............................................................................................2

2. Enumerated Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure Steps for all

water-use data ..............................................................................................................................4

3. Wastewater method code abbreviations, descriptions, and ranks, as

associated with data received from the New Jersey Pollutant Discharge

Elimination System .....................................................................................................................19
vii

Multiply By To obtain

gallon (gal) 3.785 liter (L)

gallon (gal) 0.003785 cubic meter (m3)

gallon (gal) 3.785 cubic decimeter (dm3)

million gallons (Mgal) 3,785 cubic meter (m3)

Flow rate

gallon per minute (gal/min) 0.06309 liter per second (L/s)

gallon per day (gal/d) 0.003785 cubic meter per day (m3/d)

gallon per day per square mile ([gal/d]/

mi2)

0.001461 cubic meter per day per square kilometer 

([m3/d)]/km2)

million gallons per day per square mile 

([Mgal/d]/mi2)

1,461 cubic meter per day per square kilometer 

([m3/d]/km2)

Volume

liter (L) 0.2642 gallon (gal)

cubic meter (m3) 264.2 gallon (gal)

cubic decimeter (dm3) 0.2642 gallon (gal)

cubic meter (m3) 0.0002642 million gallons (Mgal)

Flow rate

liter per second (L/s) 15.85 gallon per minute (gal/min)

cubic meter per day (m3/d) 264.2 gallon per day (gal/d)

cubic meter per day per square kilometer 

([m3/d]/km2)

684.28 gallon per day per square mile 

([gal/d]/mi2)

cubic meter per second (m3/s) 22.83 million gallons per day (Mgal/d)

cubic meter per day per square kilometer 

([m3/d]/km2)

0.0006844 million gallons per day per square 

mile ([Mgal/d]/mi2)

Conversion Factors

U.S. customary units to International System of Units
Abbreviations

ASR aquifer storage and recovery

BWA Bureau of Water Allocation

DBA database administrator

GNIS Geographic Names Information System

HUC Hydrologic Unit Code

ID(s) Identifier(s)

MCD Minor Civil Division

NJDEP New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

NJEMS New Jersey Environmental Management System

NJGWS New Jersey Geological and Water Survey

NJPDES New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

NJWaTr New Jersey Water Transfer Data System

NJWSC New Jersey Water Science Center

NWIS National Water Information System

PI Program Interest

QA/QC quality assurance/quality control

SSA sewer service area

SW surface water

UID(s) Unique Identifier(s)

USGS U.S. Geological Survey
Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure for 

New Jersey’s Water-Use Data for the New Jersey Water 

Transfer Data System (NJWaTr)

By Jennifer L. Shourds

Abstract

This report is an instructional reference document that 

describes methods developed and used by the U.S. Geological 

Survey (USGS) New Jersey Water Science Center (NJWSC) 

to assure the quality and completeness of water-use data as 

provided by the New Jersey Department of Environmental 

Protection (NJDEP) Bureau of Water Allocation. These data 

are owned wholly by the State of New Jersey. The role of the 

USGS NJWSC is to assure the quality of these data by compiling, reviewing, and checking the datasets before uploading them into the New Jersey Water Transfer Data System 

(NJWaTr) database on an annual basis. The complete uploaded 

version of the NJWaTr database serves as the repository for 

New Jersey’s approved and published water-use data. The 

State of New Jersey maintains a public-facing version of the 

NJWaTr database (available online at https://www.nj.gov/dep/

njgs/geodata/dgs10-3.htm) that contains monthly water-use 

data at the municipality and 14-digit Hydrologic Unit Code 

subwatershed level. The protected version of the NJWaTr 

database that contains monthly site-specific water-use data is 

available from the NJDEP upon request.

Introduction

Water-use withdrawals in New Jersey vary as a result 

of (1) population changes within the State, (2) yearly climate 

effects (larger withdrawals in dry years than in wet years for 

most water-use categories), (3) land-use changes over time 

(for example, residential, commercial, and industrial development), and (4) economic effects. (New Jersey Department of 

Environmental Protection, 2017). Water-use data are important 

to the State of New Jersey, but data requests also come from 

scientists studying and modeling groundwater and surface 

water, university researchers, non-profit organizations, local 

governmental agencies, and the public sector.

The regulation and data collection for New Jersey’s water 

resources are overseen by multiple New Jersey Department 

of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) agencies, including 

programs for land use, water quality, water supply, and wildlife. Two issues common to these programs are the limited 

amount of water available to meet competing demands and the 

lack of available water-use data. Independent collection and 

storage of water-use data by these agencies make data retrieval 

and use problematic. Water-resource managers and scientists 

require a single source of consistent, accurate, relevant, and 

easily accessible water-use data to plan for current demands 

and future needs.

In the early 1990s, the USGS established an internal 

water-use database (specific to the New Jersey Water Science 

Center [NJWSC]) that contains monthly site-specific withdrawal data from 1918 to the present and has been compiling, 

checking, and preparing quality-assured water-use data for its 

own projects since the early 1990s. To help the State of New 

Jersey meet its water-supply-planning goals and to provide 

a centralized database to house water-use data, a cooperative project between the NJDEP New Jersey Geological and 

Water Survey (NJGWS) and the USGS led to the creation of 

the New Jersey Water Transfer Data System (Tessler, 2003), 

commonly referred to as NJWaTr or the NJWaTr database. 

The NJWaTr database was initially populated with 10 years of 

New Jersey water-use, water-transfer, and related data from 

1990 through 1999.

One of the cooperative project’s main goals is to annually populate the NJWaTr database with quality-assured, 

site-specific monthly data. As such, the USGS developed a 

procedure to assure the quality of the data received from the 

NJDEP Bureau of Water Allocation (BWA) and has adapted 

the procedure to meet the needs of the cooperative project 

throughout the years. This quality assurance/quality control 

(QA/QC) procedure has evolved over time, and the steps have 

been automated whenever possible.

Table 1 shows that for 2004 to 2010, the QA/QC procedure was very important in ensuring the quality and accuracy 

of the data in NJWaTr. The large percentage decreases in total 

annual withdrawals, original (raw) data compared to qualityassured data, ranging from 91.2 to 99.7 percent, justify the 

need to correct the raw data received from the State and track 

changes made to the original data. Large errors generally 

result from order of magnitude errors as a result of incorrect 
2 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data

units reported by the purveyor. These types of units errors, as 

well as other types of errors, are fixed as a result of the QA/

QC procedure.

The initial cooperative work was followed by further 

refinements to the data model and the development of tools to 

assist with updating, exporting, checking, and transforming 

the data into additional outputs serving specific uses. Recent 

cooperative work has been focused on updating the original 

database design and supporting applications to accommodate 

new requirements and meet user needs, and compiling, checking, and preparing new data that are added annually to the 

NJWaTr database.

Annual updates to the NJWaTr database ensure that 

current, high-quality, water-use data are readily available 

to the NJDEP and other water-use data users from a consistent, centralized source. The site-specific, water-use data 

are accompanied by relevant information pertaining to each 

site and its resource. The State of New Jersey maintains 

a public-facing version of the NJWaTr database (available 

online at https://www.nj.gov/dep/njgs/geodata/dgs10-3.htm) 

that contains monthly water-use data at the municipality and 

14-digit Hydrologic Unit Code subwatershed level. The protected version of the NJWaTr database that contains monthly 

site-specific water-use data is available from the NJDEP upon 

request. Appendix 1 lists selected publications that include the 

quality-assured, water-use data retrieved from the protected 

version of NJWaTr.

The purpose of this report is to document the QA/QC 

procedure that the NJWSC uses to compile, check, and prepare water-use data received from the NJDEP BWA for inclusion in NJWaTr. This report is intended for use as a reference 

document and is intended to be read by those using data from 

NJWaTr. Although this report describes the QA/QC procedures performed on many different types of data (withdrawal, 

aquifer storage and recovery (ASR), surface-water returns, 

and wastewater), the focus is on the withdrawal data because 

they account for the largest number of data values and have 

the most accompanying, ancillary information, which allows 

inconsistencies and errors to be easily identified and corrected.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure 

For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data

The QA/QC procedure has been refined over the years 

and is presented in this report as a series of steps. The steps are 

described in the following sections by data type: withdrawal 

data, aquifer-storage and recovery data, surface-water return 

data, and wastewater discharge data.

NJDEP BWA provides data tables to the USGS as text 

files that need to be formatted and verified. The raw datasets 

arrive in a wide format with one row containing one site and 

12 withdrawal volume values for the 12 months of the calendar year. These data are generated by the State’s New Jersey 

Environmental Management System (NJEMS) and are sent 

to an electronic mailing address list twice a year. Withdrawal 

data also can be found in raw, original, pre-QA/QC form on 

the State’s data miner website at https://www13.state.nj.us/

DataMiner.

Withdrawal Data

This section describes the procedure used to compile and 

assure the quality of the withdrawal water-use data as obtained 

from the NJDEP BWA. The data include surface-water diversions and groundwater withdrawals. Accompanying site information included in the electronic dataset show which sites are 

designated as groundwater and which sites are designated as 

surface water.

The diagram in figure 1 and the outline in table 2 show 

the steps that make up the QA/QC procedure for the withdrawal data in an enumerated format to help the reader follow 

the steps described in the sections below.

Table 1. Examples of changes to the annual withdrawal totals resulting from the Quality Assurance/Quality Control effort.

 [QA/QC, quality assurance and quality control; Mgal/yr, million gallons per year; NJDEP New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; BWA, Bureau 

of Water Allocation; NJWaTr, New Jersey Water Transfer Data System]

Sum of annual withdrawals, in Mgal/yr

Year Pre QA/QC, original (raw) data from 

NJDEP BWA

Post QA/QC data, as stored in NJWaTr Decrease in sum of annual withdrawal 

from original, in percent

2004 376,567,740 1,031,222 99.7

2005 70,416,700 1,062,918 98.5

2006 136,318,122 1,024,497 99.2

2007 131,747,707 946,181 99.3

2008 160,190,301 917,739 99.4

2009 129,787,103 1,172,169 99.1

2010 8,162,042 716,109 91.2
Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data 3

llk. All sites

checked against

monthly historical

average calculated

for the period 

of record for 

each site

llk. All sites

checked against

annual historical

average calculated 

for the period of

record for each site

llj, llk. Any 

site-month-year records found 

to be problematic (over

allocation limit or significantly 

different than the historical 

average) are investigated

and corrected as necessary.

Any changes are documented

and flagged. Both values 

remain in database, corrected

values become preferred 

values and original values 

become non-preferred values

VI, VII. All corrected and original data

are formatted into templates that get 

uploaded into NJWaTr database. New sites

and conveyances are generated with accompanying

site metadata and populated into appropriate site

templates to be uploaded into NJWaTr database

Data that are summed 

on monthly basis

Data that are summed 

on annual basis

lljii. Monthly

sums checked

against 

monthly

permit 

allocations

llji. Annual 

sums checked 

against

annual permit

allocations

llji, lljii. All sites

summed annually

and monthly by

BWA permit

llh. Associate

remaining 

existing sites

with SiteName from

NJWaTr site_tbl

using BWA_UID

llgiii. Determine

which sites belong

to which groups and

make decisions on

sites/groups to 

keep/delete to 

eliminate double reporting

llg. Run groups

and members 

procedure

l. Download files

received from 

NJDEP BWA

lla, llb, llc. 

Format files,

making current

year table in

long format

lld. Look for

duplicate sites

lle, llf. Submit

new non-zero

sites to USGS DBA

for NWIS site 

number creation

Figure 1. Schematic diagram showing a flow chart summarizing the quality assurance/quality control procedure for 

withdrawal data received from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Water Allocation. 

Alphanumeric codes in the polygons correspond to process steps in table 2; pale yellow box in center signifies the 

part of the Quality Assurance/Quality Control procedure where withdrawal volume data checks are executed; step IIi, 

from table 2, which references handling null withdrawal volume data, is omitted from this diagram for clarity. (NJDEP, 

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; BWA, Bureau of Water Allocation; USGS, U.S. Geological Survey; 

DBA, Database Administrator; NWIS, National Water Information System; NJWaTr, New Jersey Water Transfer Data 

System; BWA_UID, Bureau of Water Allocation_Unique Identifier)
4 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data

Table 2. Enumerated Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure Steps for all water-use data. 

 [Steps are illustrated in figure 1. QA/QC, quality assurance/quality control; NJDEP, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection; BWA, Bureau of 

Water Allocation; USGS, U.S. Geological Survey; NWIS, National Water Information System; NJWaTr, New Jersey Water Transfer Data System; BWA_UID, 

Bureau of Water Allocation_ Unique Identifier; DBA, Database Administrator]

Step Description of process

I. Obtain source data

II. Process and QA/QC withdrawal data

a. Obtain list of electronic files from NJDEP BWA

b. Create new folder for the year

c. Create long table for the year of interest

d. Search for duplicate sites

e. Mark new sites

f. Mark new sites without NWIS site numbers and submit new, non-zero sites to USGS DBA for NWIS Site Creation

g. Run groups and members procedure

 i. Link BWA Files to Database

ii. Run Allocation Tool—to create SiteGroupPercent table which shows which sites are associated with which groups and 

which permits; allows for annual totals for both sites and groups to be associated to their respective permits and for annual 

totals to be compared against each other

iii. Analyze and decide whether to keep sites or keep groups to eliminate double reporting

h. Associate current year sites to pre-existing sites in NJWaTr using BWA_UID.

i. Process null withdrawal volume data

i. Pre-2017 data—Estimate null withdrawal values when possible

ii. 2017 and Post-2017 data—Create table of Null Records

j. Analyze data at BWA permit level

 i. Annual withdrawals

 1. Calculate sum of annual withdrawal values for all related sites belonging to a BWA permit

 2. Compare sum of annual withdrawal to the annual allocation for a BWA permit

3. Calculate the percent difference between the sum of annual withdrawal and the sum of the allocation limits by BWA 

Permit

4. Investigate monthly records for individual sites that make up the BWA Permits showing a percent difference between the 

annual withdrawal and the annual allocation limit that is greater than 25 percent

5. Fix, flag, and document correctable errors

 ii. Monthly withdrawals

 1. Calculate monthly sums by BWA permit

 2. Compare sums of monthly withdrawal values to sums of monthly allocation limits for each BWA Permit

3. Calculate the percent difference between the sum of the monthly withdrawal values and the sum of the monthly allocation limits by BWA Permit

4. Investigate monthly records for individual sites that make up the BWA Permits showing a percent difference between the 

summed monthly withdrawal values and the summed monthly allocation limits that is greater than 25 percent

5. Fix, flag, and document correctable errors

k. Analyze Data as Compared to Historical Data

 i. Generate and export historical data from NJWaTr matching sites to year-of-interest data

ii. Compare year-of-interest data against historical data—both annual totals and monthly withdrawal values

iii. Correctable errors are fixed, flagged, and documented

III. Process aquifer storage and recovery data

IV. Process surface-water returns data

V. Process wastewater discharge data

VI. Final processing and template creation

VII. Load all data into NJWaTr via templates
Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data 5

Obtain and Process Source Data

The data are obtained from the NJDEP BWA twice a 

year, usually in May and November. The QA/QC procedure 

is usually based on the November deliverable because the 

November annual dataset typically contains more datapoints 

than the May dataset and can be considered a revised, more 

complete version of the May dataset with fewer null records. 

The zipped, compressed folder of datafiles includes 17 files, as 

shown in figure 2.

To begin the QA/QC process, a new work area folder is 

set up in the water-use directory with the same configuration 

as folders from previous years. The work area folder includes 

the various databases used to format and process the data each 

year. Each of the 12 databases represents a step in the procedure. Nine of the 12 databases process the withdrawal data 

(current and historical), one database contains the process for 

ASR and surface-water returns data, one database contains 

the process for the wastewater data, and the final database 

compiles all the data to be stored in one location to generate 

the NJWaTr final loading templates.

A new data table is created for the new year of data 

from the electronic file dataset described in figure 2 that 

represents the year of interest. A link to the most recently 

received diverted water-data file (in this example, the first 

file in figure 2 titled “DIVERTED WATER DATA 01012003 

to 05202015.csv”) is created in the first of the 12 Microsoft 

Access databases that is used to process and format the data 

for the year of interest. This DIVERTED WATER DATA file 

is a comma-separated text file that contains all the monthly 

withdrawal data from January 2003 to the date of retrieval by 

the NJDEP BWA. The dataset contained in the DIVERTED 

WATER DATA file is delivered in a wide format and contains 

all available data downloaded from the NJDEP BWA database, 

commonly referred to as NJEMS (fig. 3).

The DIVERTED WATER DATA file, referenced in 

figures 2 and 3, contains 108,406 rows (sites with multiple 

years of data from 2003 to 2015 and 2,835 BWA Permits 

(“PREF_ID_NUM”), which represent 12,391 sites. Because 

of the current size restrictions that the NJDEP BWA has for 

NJEMS, this DIVERTED WATER DATA file currently (2020) 

must be split into three files. From the DIVERTED WATER 

DATA file, the year of interest table is created, and all the QA/

QC steps are performed upon that dataset. The year of interest 

Figure 2. Screen shot showing example list of files received from New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection 

Bureau of Water Allocation.
6 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data

is selected, and a table is created with a long-table format 

from the wide-table format with identifiers (IDs) (“PREF_

ID_NUM”, “SUBJECT_ITEM_ID”, and “SUBJECT_ITEM_

DESIGNATION”, which are the second, third, and last 

columns in the DIVERTED WATER DATA file, respectively, 

as shown in figure 3). Each month is represented by a column 

heading, and the volume (in million gallons) is listed below 

the heading. Each month (January through December) is 

appended to the table, and total record counts are checked to 

ensure the long table was generated properly.

New Site Identification Creation and Vetting for 

Duplicates

The year of interest table, generated in the first Microsoft 

Access database, is linked into the subsequent Microsoft 

Access databases and used to check for duplicate sites and 

duplicate ID numbers, both of which are rectified, where 

appropriate. In general, duplicate data are relatively straightforward to rectify. They typically consist of duplicate withdrawal volume values with the same BWA_Unique Identifier 

(BWA_UID) (shown in fig. 3 as SUBJECT_ITEM_ID) but 

different BWA Permits (shown in fig. 3 as PREF_ID_NUM). 

Some duplicate BWA_UIDs exist under different BWA 

Permits with some missing monthly data, whereas the same 

site (same BWA_UID under a different BWA Permit) has 

actual values for those same months. Other cases of duplicate 

IDs require more investigation. If two withdrawal volume 

values are different for a specific site-month-year 

combination, both withdrawal volume values are included as 

separate records but with two different NJWaTr SiteName IDs 

(which reflects the different BWA permit within the SiteName). The NJWaTr SiteName is made up of the BWA permit 

and the SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION; for example, in 

figure 3, the NJWaTr SiteName for the site on the first row 

would become BWA:10000W:4500061135. The various 

IDs—BWA Permit (listed in fig. 3 as PREF_ID_NUM), 

BWA_UID (listed in fig. 3 as SUBJECT_ITEM_ID), and 

NJPermit (listed in fig. 3 as SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION)—are used to compare to existing sites in the USGS 

National Water Information System (NWIS). Sites that do not 

have corresponding NWIS site numbers are considered new 

sites. New sites are listed in a separate table, in addition to any 

pre-existing sites that do not yet have NWIS numbers (hereafter referred to as “undocumented”).

The NWIS site number is a unique identification number 

for a groundwater or surface-water site that has been created by the NJWSC database administrator (DBA). The link 

between the State’s water-use sites (NJWaTr SiteNames) and 

the USGS sites (NWIS site number) is important because 

additional information is contained within the NWIS sitefile 

that describes the site, making the water-use data contained in 

NJWaTr more informative and useable for certain situations, 

such as groundwater flow models. For example, for a groundwater water-use site, NWIS contains information regarding 

the location and depth of the well and the aquifer in which the 

well is screened and from which the well is drawing water.

Annual totals of monthly withdrawal values are summed, 

per site, in order to avoid generating an NWIS site number for 

sites that have a zero-volume total withdrawal for the year. 

Oftentimes, new sites with a zero-volume total withdrawal 

for the year are sites proposed for construction and when 

constructed will have non-zero annual totals in subsequent 

years. When this occurs, sites are subsequently created and 

entered in the year in which there is a non-zero-volume annual 

withdrawal total. New sites, and any undocumented sites, are 

submitted to the NJWSC DBA to be entered into the NWIS 

database, given a new, unique NWIS site number, and tracked 

as new water-use sites. Typically, 80 to 100 new sites with 

non-zero-volume annual withdrawal totals are added to the 

NWIS database in any given year.

asdf

MON_YEAR PREF_ID_NUM SUBJECT_ITEM_ID JAN_RESULT FEB_RESULT MAR_RESULT APR_RESULT MAY_RESULT JUN_RESULT JUL_RESULT AUG_RESULT SEP_RESULT OCT_RESULT NOV_RESULT DEC_RESULT SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION

2003 10000W WSWL70066 0.03 0.028 0.032 0.027 0.029 0.031 0.021 0.024 0.027 0.025 0.028 0.025 4500061135

2004 10000W WSWL70066 0.037 0.031 0.034 0.029 0.031 0.035 0.021 0.026 0.03 0.029 0.034 0.028 4500061135

2005 10000W WSWL70066 0.037 0.037 0.037 0.034 0.035 0.03 0.027 0.023 0.037 0.033 0.03 0.024 4500061135

2006 10000W WSWL70066 0.037 0.028 0.026 0.03 0.043 0.032 0.029 0.043 0.034 0.03 0.025 0.025 4500061135

2007 10000W WSWL70066 0.039 0.03 0.027 0.035 0.044 0.035 0.02 0.035 0.032 0.028 0.022 0.02 4500061135

2008 10000W WSWL70066 0.041 0.039 0.04 0.038 0.048 0.03 0.015 0.02 0.022 0.025 0.021 0.024 4500061135

2009 10000W WSWL70066 0.022 0.015 0.015 0.024 0.025 0.032 0.027 0.032 0.02 0.021 0.022 0.02 4500061135

2010 10000W WSWL70066 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4500061135

2011 10000W WSWL70066 0.012 0.013 0.016 0.019 0.023 0.028 0.026 0.026 0.029 0.022 0.019 0.029 4500061135

2012 10000W WSWL70066 0.019 0.023 0.022 0.017 0.024 0.029 0.028 0.011 0.019 0.016 0.015 0.028 4500061135

2013 10000W WSWL70066 0.027 0.013 0.02 0.018 0.029 0.028 0.024 0.028 0.029 0.017 0.012 0.018 4500061135

2014 10000W WSWL70066 0.026 0.023 0.023 0.017 0.017 0.018 0.023 0.024 0.02 0.023 0.016 0.015 4500061135

2015 10000W WSWL70066 0.027 0.013 0.02 0.018 0.029 0.028 0.024 0.028 0.029 0.017 0.012 0.018 4500061135

2003 10001W WSWL70210 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.7 1 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 4600040764

2004 10001W WSWL70210 0.85 0.91 0.73 0.69 0.79 0.68 0.67 0.7 0.77 0.91 0.68 0.71 4600040764

2005 10001W WSWL70210 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4600040764

2006 10001W WSWL70210 1.15 1.92 1.3 1.3 1.43 1.38 1.45 1.39 1.92 1.82 1.93 1.92 4600040764

2007 10001W WSWL70210 0.4 1.3 0.6 1.1 1.1 1.6 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.1 1.2 4600040764

2008 10001W WSWL70210 1.986 1.094 2.019 1.038 0.941 1.613 1.155 1.529 1.019 1.515 2.378 1.987 4600040764

2009 10001W WSWL70210 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.9 4600040764

2010 10001W WSWL70210 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.8 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.8 4600040764

2011 10001W WSWL70210 0.9 1.4 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.7 1.1 0.9 1.1 0.9 0.8 0.9 4600040764

2012 10001W WSWL70210 1 0.7 1.1 1 1.1 1.7 1.5 1.9 1.8 1.4 0.1 0.2 4600040764

2013 10001W WSWL70210 0.5 0.7 1 1.6 0.6 1.3 1.1 0.5 0 0.4 1 0 4600040764

2014 10001W WSWL70210 0.017 0.04 0.008 0.11 0.3 0.2 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.3 0.3 4600040764

2015 10001W WSWL70210 4600040764

Figure 3. Example table showing format and appearance of the raw NJEMS (New Jersey Environmental Management System) 

data file. (MON, Monitoring; PREF, Preferred; ID, Identification; NUM, Number)
Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data 7

Groups and Members Procedure

The groups and members procedure determines which 

group(s) each site belongs to. This procedure was set up originally to elucidate the allocation limit (full allocation) per site 

from an interwoven group of allocation limits where sites are 

part of multiple groups, sometimes as members of more than 

one group with differing allocation limits. Two text files from 

the NJDEP BWA electronic file dataset (EFFECTIVE PERMIT SOURCES AND GROUPS BY PI TO MMDDYYYY 

and MMDDYYYY.csv and SUBJECT ITEMS WITH LIMITS 

MMDDYYYY and MMDDYYYY.csv, see fig. 2) are linked 

into the procedural database titled the AllocPreProcessor (see 

fig. 4). The AllocPreProcessor database runs the sites and 

groups procedure that generates a table, SiteGroupPercent, 

that shows which sites, according to BWA permit, belong to 

which groups. A BWA permit consists of a group of sites and 

(sometimes) groups that share the same owner. Owners can 

possess more than one BWA permit and often require multiple 

permits over time, as new resources are obtained and utilized.

As shown in figures 5–8, a site can be a member of more 

than one group, but both the groups and members (sites) 

that make up the group have the same BWA permit number. 

Figures 5–8 illustrate the complexity of the allocation permitting process and depict example results from the sites and 

groups procedure needed to parse out which sites belong to 

which group(s). A tool in Microsoft Access, which includes 

the AllocPreProcessor, was developed to elucidate the smallest allocation per site (Mary Chepiga, USGS, written and oral 

commun., 2016).

Part of the allocation limit per site process generates the 

SiteGroupPercent table (fig. 9) that lists groups and associated member sites. The SiteGroupPercent table is instrumental in the process of determining which groups or which 

sites to retain to avoid the double counting; double counting 

results from double reporting that occurs in the raw data 

from the electronic dataset. For example, site WSWL960664 

in figure 9 is a member of two groups—in this case, group 

WARG1019538 and group WSWA73890. When this situation is encountered, the steps described below are taken to 

determine whether to retain the sites’ or the group’s withdrawal data.

Running this step generates

the SiteGroupPercent table that

shows which sites belong to 

which group(s).

Automation Demo

Purge and Reload

Automation Demo

Step 1. Not Used

Step 2. Make SG/PGT

Step 3. make MIS/SIS

Not Used

make SG and PGT tables

make Member and Site Info Summaries

Running Procedure Information

Exit

Figure 4. The form used to run the AllocPreProcessor procedure that generates the SiteGroupPercent 

table.
8 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data

All SW and GW

withdrawal sites

in NJ

Full allocation estimates by site

Permits are BWA numbers

 Permits have one or more groups of sites

Groups of sites have allocation limits

 Groups have yearly and/or monthly allocation limits

 Groups have one, some, or all sites within a permit

Sites are individual withdrawal locations

 Sites can be in more than one group

Needed information: 1. Relation of sites to groups 2. Site percent of groups 3. Group allocation limit

Figure 5. Schematic diagram showing the basics of allocation permitting and depicting how groups are made up of sites. 

(BWA, Bureau of Water Allocation; SW, Surface Water; GW, Groundwater; NJ, New Jersey)

Relation of sites and groups

Group

Number of

members

Members

Site 

membership

in groups

S1S2S3S4S5S6S7

Permit

G1

3

G2

2

G3

3

G4

2

S1

S2

S3

G1

G3G4

S4

S5

S6S7

Figure 6. Schematic diagram showing an example of the contents of a permit and how its members, made up of 

sites and groups, relate to the original permit. (G, Group; S, Site)
Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data 9

Group

Available allocation which 

equals the allocation limit, 

in mgy

Number of sites

Site percent

Sites

Permit

G91

3,700

3

G21

3,700

19

G19

592

9

G22

686.7

4

Estimate yearly site allocations

 • Identify “smallest” group

 • Calculate

 Available allocation

 Number of unallocated sites

 Site percent

.52.14.00.01.01.01.02.010.01.03.01.09.12.02.02

.79.20.00.15.06.08.17.060.09.11.03.37.48.16.22

S48S22S23S80S81S88S89S09S10S11S14S29S42S01S32S60

Figure 7. Schematic diagram showing an example of the contents of a permit and its members (made up of sites and 

groups) and how the allocation processor works to calculate the percent that each site contributes to the group’s overall 

allocation limit(s) or its site percent. (G, Group; S, Site)
Once the SiteGroupPercent table has been generated, the 

annual withdrawal value totals are calculated for the groups 

and the individual sites. The annual withdrawal totals for the 

individual sites that make up a group are then summed for 

comparison to the annual group withdrawal total (fig. 10). The 

summed site total and group total may differ as a result of the 

way in which the water-use data are reported by the permittee. The permittee may report a group value only, individual 

withdrawal values for some or all of the sites, or both, depending on reporting requirements. In some situations, the group 

and site totals do not match, and as a result, a decision must 

be made as to whether there is more confidence in the group 

total or the summed site total. If the sum of the individual sites 

within a group has a non-zero withdrawal value and the group 

total is null, the individual sites are retained. If the annual total 

for the group has a non-zero withdrawal value and the sum of 

the individual sites within that group is null, the group value is 

retained. In some situations where both the group and the sites 

making up that group have a non-zero sum total, it is necessary to compare the totals to determine which group, or group 

of sites, to retain in order to avoid double counting (fig. 10). In 

order to determine which group, or group of individual sites, 

is more complete and more accurately represents the actual 

volumes of withdrawals, the totals are compared. If there 

are null values within either the group or the site values (for 

example, a site within the group may have no data for a whole 

year or may have months within the year with no data [partial 

year data]), precedence is given to keeping the group. Another 

evaluation compares the historical decision made for the group 

and its site members and uses that decision as guidance for the 

year of interest’s data. This method establishes consistency 

over time. In general, the preference is to keep the individual 

site data and discard the group data to retain as much sitespecific data as possible. In the example shown in figure 10, 

the total withdrawal for all sites equals 2,048.383 million gallons per year, and the total withdrawal for the corresponding 

group equals 18,435.564 million gallons per year. In this situation, the sites and their monthly records were retained, and 

the group and its monthly records were deleted because the 

site data were complete and contained no null monthly records 

nor any sites with all null withdrawal values. Though the total 

withdrawal for the group was larger, that total was deemed 

not as trustworthy as the withdrawal data for individual sites. 

In addition, historically, this group and its monthly data have 

been deleted, and the sites and their monthly records have 

been retained, during the previous years’ QA/QC processing.

Typically, keeping sites has precedence over keeping 

groups, and historically, the site data have been retained and 

the group data have been removed roughly 90 percent of the 

time. This check produces a table (fig. 11), which provides 

justification and documentation for the decision made for each 

case. Once decisions have been made, the original dataset 

is marked with “keep sites” or “keep group,” and associated 

monthly records are deleted, as appropriate.

10 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data

All SW and GW

withdrawal sites

in NJ

Full allocation estimates by site in 2006

2,300 permits with allocation limits

2,800 groups with allocation limits

6,300 sites with estimated allocation of 7,800 mgd

 SW - 1,000 sites with estimated allocation of 6,700 mgd

 GW - 5,300 sites with estimated allocation of 1,100 mgd

5,500 sites with withdrawals of 2,500 mgd

 SW - 850 sites with withdrawals of 2,000 mgd

 GW - 4,650 sites with withdrawals of 500 mgd

Figure 8. Schematic diagram showing example results from the full allocation process, as run on 2006 data. (SW, Surface Water; 

GW, Groundwater; NJ, New Jersey; mgd, million gallons per day)
Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data 11

Figure 9. Screen shot showing an example of the SiteGroupPercent table. A site can be a member of more than one group; for 

example, site WSWL960664 (highlighted in yellow) is a member of group WARG1019538 (circled in red) and group WSWA73890 

(circled in blue). 

Grand Total 18435.564 2048.383

Figure 10. Screen shot showing an example of a group total that differs from the site total. (All withdrawal values are in units of 

million gallons per year)
12 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data

Linking Current Year’s Sites to Pre-Existing Sites 

in NJWaTr

Once the duplicate sites and (or) groups have been 

removed, the remaining site-month-withdrawal volume combinations are linked to the corresponding SiteName in NJWaTr 

using a few techniques. The sites can be linked to their corresponding SiteNames in the site table in NJWaTr by NJEMS 

ID, which can be found in the original electronic dataset file 

DIVERTED WATER DATA 01012003 to MMDDYYYY.csv, 

listed in the third column as SUBJECT_ITEM_ID (fig. 3). 

The NJEMS ID, commonly referred to as BWA_UID, is a 

concatenation of two columns (SUBJECT_ITEM_CATEGORY_CODE and SUBJECT_ITEM_ID) that can be found 

in the file SUBJECT ITEMS also known as SOURCES BY 

PI MMDDYYYY TO MMDDYYYY.csv in the original 

electronic dataset (fig. 2). Sites can also be linked to their 

correct, corresponding NJWaTr SiteName by using the previous years’ datasets and (or) the lookup table available in the 

USGS NJWSC historical usage database and linking by PI 

ID, or Program Interest identifier (BWA Permit), and Subject 

Item Designation (NJPermit), which are in the files SUBJECT 

ITEMS also known as SOURCES BY PI MMDDYYYY TO 

MMDDYYYY.csv and DIVERTED WATER DATA 01012003 

TO MMDDYYYY.csv (fig. 3).

For new sites, two new site IDs are generated—an 

NJWaTr SiteName and an NWIS Site Number. The new 

NJWaTr SiteName is created using the format BWA: PI ID: 

Subject Item Designation. The Program Interest Identification 

(PI ID; BWA Permit), also written as PREF_ID_NUM, and the 

Subject Item Designation (NJPermit) are items found in the 

file DIVERTED WATER DATA 01012003 TO 

MMDDYYYY.csv (fig. 3). An example of a the NJWaTr 

SiteName using the example data found in the first row 

in the DIVERTED WATER DATA file in figure 3 is 

BWA:10000W:4500061135. The NWIS Site Number is a 

unique identifier generated by the USGS NJWSC DBA that 

incorporates the longitude and latitude for a groundwater site 

and the downstream order number for a surface-water site 

and is used for tracking the site in NWIS. These new sites 

are entered into the NJWaTr database with their accompanying information—NJWaTr SiteName, NWIS Site Number, 

NJEMS ID, geographical information that describes the site 

location and resource, and other identifying information.

Handling Null Volume Withdrawal Data

For withdrawal data before 2017, any site having null 

withdrawal values for all 12 months in the year of interest was 

removed from the dataset because it was decided that the null 

data points served as holders as they were most likely new 

sites without any withdrawal values to date. The database does 

not allow for null values to be entered, and a null value is considered to be different from a known value of zero. A new or 

proposed site that has 11 months with null withdrawal values 

and 1 month with a zero value is also removed. A site having 

all zero or some non-zero withdrawal values for any of the 12 

months is retained. In the past, a site having null withdrawal 

values for all months but displaying non-zero or zero withdrawal values in subsequent datasets, as updated electronic 

datasets are received from the BWA, was added to the dataset, 

and for any months with null withdrawal values, values were 

estimated, if appropriate. Starting with the review of the 2017 

data, withdrawal values are no longer estimated for sites with 

null withdrawal values. Owing to the increasing quality and 

completeness of the raw data received from the BWA in recent 

years, estimates were deemed redundant and unnecessary 

and, as a result, will no longer be calculated. Sites with null 

withdrawal values will be maintained in a site inventory table 

to discern sites that have been active in the past but currently 

have no withdrawals.

Group BWA GroupTotal SumOfSiteTotal What to do Comment Historical

WSWA81635 5000X 115300.12 4434.624 keep sites checked nulls, some sites have recent data (2012 and 2015) but historically keep sites Keep sites

WARG81637 5000X 25975.572 1855.399 keep sites no nulls in sites

WSWA81600 5014X 142130.45 2655.246 keep sites checked nulls, haven't seen non-zero withdrawals in many (10+) years if ever Delete group

WSWA83808 5020X 5688826.8 48884.7589 keep sites checked nulls (lots) but despite recent data (up to 2015, looks estimated) and keeping with historical Delete group

WSWA75771 5062X 108.3 36.1 keep sites checked nulls, haven't seen withdrawals in many (10+) years Delete group

WSWA75770 5062X 572.784 0 keep group nulls and zero summed sites

WSWA81571 5188X 2844.355 167.315 keep sites checked nulls, haven't seen non-zero withdrawals in many (10+) years if ever Keep sites

WSWA75826 5206X 1721.384 430.346 keep sites checked nulls, one has recentish data 2013 but other is older than 10+ years Keep sites

WSWA75827 5206X 17670.862 1606.442 keep sites no nulls in sites

WSWA75828 5206X 276.555 92.185 keep sites no nulls in sites

WSWA75829 5206X 8028.639 908.667 keep sites nulls in sites are actually groups and don't exist in NJWaTr at all

WSWA75825 5206X 884.342 441.913 keep sites no nulls in sites Keep sites

WSWA670353 5220X 8212.1 631.65 keep sites checked nulls, some have recent-ish data going back to 2013 but could be estimations and going with historically Keep sites

WARG748121 5264X 18435.564 2048.383 keep sites checked nulls, haven't seen withdrawals in many (10+) years Delete group

WSWA138268 5264X 35498.021 2730.607 keep sites checked nulls, haven't seen withdrawals in many (10+) years Keep sites

WSWA533773 5347X 2575.304 321.913 keep sites checked nulls, haven't seen withdrawals in many (10+) years Keep sites

Figure 11. Example table with group and site totals that are not equal, decisions made about keeping the sites’ monthly 

records or the group’s monthly records, and current and historical rationales for decisions. (BWA, Bureau of Water 

Allocation)
Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data 13

Analysis of Data by Permit

The next two sections of this report, Comparing Current Year’s Data to Permit Allocation Limits (Annual and Monthly) 

and Comparing the Current Year’s Data to Historical Data, describe the parts of the QA/QC procedure where each withdrawal 

site is checked against various factors to identify errors that can be fixed, flagged, and documented, and then the corrected value, 

as well as the original value, are both uploaded into the final datafile templates, which are loaded into NJWaTr. The withdrawal 

data for a site are compared to the corresponding permit allocation limits and to the corresponding historical data on an annual 

and monthly basis. Sites are checked as grouped into their BWA permit(s) and individually on a site-specific basis. Initially, sites 

are grouped by their BWA permits and reviewed on an annual basis in order to find and correct the more obvious errors. The 

sites are then examined at finer temporal and spatial scales to identify the less obvious errors. After potential errors are identified, historical data for the site are used to help identify a corrected or “preferred” value for the site. The annual and monthly 

permit allocation limits can be found in the file SUBJECT ITEMS WITH LIMITS MMDDYYYY TO MMDDYYYY.csv 

(fig. 2).

Comparing Current Year’s Data to Permit Allocation Limits (Annual and Monthly)

Annual sums are calculated by summing the monthly withdrawal values for each site which are then summed by BWA 

permit (PI ID). The annual BWA permit (PI ID) sums are compared to the annual allocation limit for the permit. For the 

10,000-series BWA permits’ allocation limits are smaller; no more than 100,000 gallons per day are permitted to be pumped, and 

pump capacities are less than 70 gallons per minute (State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of 

Water Supply and Geoscience, Water Allocations and Registrations https://www.state.nj.us/dep/watersupply/a_allocat.html and 

Water Use Registration Application https://www.state.nj.us/dep/watersupply/pdf/dwr-188.pdf, both accessed August 19, 2019). 

The sums of the 10,000-series BWA permits are compared against an annual limit of 37 million gallons, as 100,000 gallons per 

day multiplied by 365 days results in a rounded value of 37 million gallons. For BWA permits with multiple limits, for example 

the 5000X-series (public-supply permits) the maximum annual allocation limits are culled from the file SUBJECT ITEMS 

WITH LIMITS MMDDYYYY TO MMDDYYYY.csv, and the grouped BWA permit annual sums from the year of interest’s 

dataset are checked against the maximum allowable annual allocation limits.

The percent differences by permit are calculated, and all permits with a percent difference greater than 25 percent of the 

annual allocation are flagged to be examined. Percent difference is calculated using the equation

where abs stands for absolute.

Each site associated with the flagged permit is examined, beginning with the largest percent differences. Each site’s 

monthly value is checked for potential typographical and units errors, which are usually easily identifiable at the site-scale level. 

For sites/permits where a needed correction and (or) revision is not easily identifiable, the sites listed on the permit are compared 

to associated historical data to determine whether a correction is appropriate using historical data as justification. 

Errors found during the annual allocation limit sums procedure check are fixed, flagged, and documented. Both withdrawal 

values, the original value and the corrected value, are loaded into the final database. The original, raw, “errored” value is loaded 

as “non-preferred,” and the “fixed, corrected” value is loaded as final and “preferred.” Any overages (excess over the permitted 

withdrawals) that are not correctable are retained in the final dataset to be loaded into NJWaTr because withdrawals greater than 

the BWA permit’s allocation limit do happen and do not necessarily constitute an error.

Typically, approximately 10 percent of permits have total withdrawal values greater than their annual allocation limit before 

corrections are made. For example, analysis of the 2016 data identified that 192 out of 2,262 permits, or about 8 percent, had 

total withdrawal values greater than their annual allocation limits. The permits and sites listed on the permits were examined for 

possible errors, and where applicable, values were corrected.

After corrections have been made to monthly withdrawal values that were identified from the comparison of annual withdrawal values and annual allocation limits, the sum of monthly withdrawal values for each permit is re-calculated using the new 

“preferred” monthly withdrawal values, and the same procedure described in detail above is carried out using monthly allocation permit limits instead of annual allocation permit limits. The monthly allocation limits are contained within the SUBJECT 

ITEMS WITH LIMITS MMDDYYYY TO MMDDYYYY.csv file. For 10,000-series BWA permits, the monthly limit is 3.1 

million gallons per month.

(absValue(|AnnualSumOfAllWithdrawalsInABWAPermit − AnnualAllocationLimitForABWAPermit|))

 __________________________________________________________ absValue(|AnnualAllocationLimitForABWAPermit|) × 100,
14 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data

Errors found during the monthly allocation limit sums 

procedure check are fixed, flagged, and documented. Both 

withdrawal values, the original value and the corrected value, 

are loaded into the final database. The original “errored” value 

is loaded as “non-preferred,” and the “fixed, corrected” value 

is loaded as final and “preferred.”

Typically, approximately 1 percent of permit-month withdrawal values are greater than their monthly allocation limits, 

after the annual allocation limit check but before corrections 

are made resulting from the monthly allocation limit check. 

For example, for 2016 data, 166 of 27,144 permit-month 

combinations had reported monthly withdrawal values that 

were outside the monthly allocation limits and needed to be 

examined for possible correction.

Evaluating annual allocation limits before monthly 

limits are evaluated allows larger issues and errors to be 

identified and corrected, which minimizes the number of 

problem records that are found during the monthly allocation 

limit check.

Comparing the Current Year’s Data to Historical 

Data

Data for the year of interest are checked against, and 

compared to, the historical data by BWA permit and by site. 

The NJWaTr SiteNames, which were linked in a previous 

step, are taken from the year of interest dataset and used to 

export a historical dataset from the current version of the 

main NJWaTr database that contains all the historical data for 

those SiteNames. The historical data that are exported from 

the main NJWaTr database are associated with their corresponding BWA (PI ID) permit. Once exported from the main 

NJWaTr database, these historical data are summed by BWA 

(PI ID) permit, by year and by month, and the average, maximum, minimum, and standard deviation are computed. These 

historical statistics are compared to the annual and monthly 

withdrawal values for the year of interest, which are already 

summed on a permit basis from previous steps (comparing 

year of interest data to annual and monthly allocation limits). 

A percent difference/error is calculated using the sum of the 

values for sites belonging to a BWA permit for the year of 

interest and the historical annual average by BWA permit. The 

absolute value of the overall difference between the value for 

the year of interest for a BWA permit total and the historical 

annual average value for a BWA permit also is calculated. 

A query is set up that looks at any percent difference greater 

than 99 percent and any overall difference that is greater than 

100 million gallons per year. This query occasionally results 

in a lot of manual checking, so another query extracts all the 

potential outliers showing the data for the year of interest for 

all the sites belonging to the permits that vary significantly 

from their corresponding historical data to further prioritize 

the list and identify correctable errors. The data for the year 

of interest’s individual sites that are included on each permit 

are examined to see whether any outliers or typographical 

errors can be detected, fixed, and documented, as appropriate. 

Usually, as a result of the previous annual and monthly allocation limits check, the major problems in the dataset have been 

corrected and, if not corrected, have already been identified as 

issues that cannot be fixed or altered.

Incorporating Updates to the Historical Dataset

In a continuing effort to improve the database, updates 

to historical data are made from the new electronic delivery 

dataset. This includes any historical data (from 2003 to 1 year 

before the year of interest) that may have been missing or 

estimated (applies to data from 2003 to 2016 only). The new, 

updated dataset from the BWA contains withdrawal values for 

previously missing data that need to be added to the historical database. The old, estimated data value is maintained in 

the database but becomes a “non-preferred” value, whereas 

the new, updated value becomes the “preferred” value. New 

withdrawal values are considered to be updates to null or zero 

withdrawal values in the dataset and typically result from 

updated information submitted by the purveyor.

To incorporate the historical updates, first, all historical 

data are extracted from NJWaTr from 2003 to the year before 

the year of interest. For example, when working on the 2016 

QA/QC procedure, data from 2003 to 2015 were extracted 

from the NJWaTr database. Using the method code (one of 

the codes contained in NJWaTr, which designates the source 

of each data record) to filter the dataset, only data that were 

classified as estimates are selected to avoid having to rerun the 

duplicate site verification step and the sites and groups procedure. A check is run on non-estimated, historical data to ensure 

that the BWA has not made any updates or changes to these 

records that are marked as “preferred” in the database. These 

records (site-month-year combination) that already exist in 

the database as estimates are compared to the latest electronic 

files matched up by month and year to determine whether data 

that were previously null have since been replaced by actual 

values. New, reported withdrawal values are preferred to estimated values and are compiled, formatted, and added to the 

database. The new, updated withdrawal values are run through 

the QA/QC checking process to determine whether they 

exceed allocation limits (monthly and annually) or appear as 

outliers against monthly historical statistics (minimum, average, and maximum) for that site. Monthly percent difference 

calculations are re-calculated for those updated data, and any 

necessary corrections are made and documented. Corrections 

are made by examining a permit’s annual (and later monthly) 

allocation limit volume values and historical use for that site’s 

monthly period of record in the same manner as described 

previously for the data for the year of interest.

Note that the old, estimated value and the new, real, 

and uncorrected value are retained as “non-preferred” withdrawal values within the database, and the new, corrected (if 

applicable) value is promoted as the “preferred” or “primary” 

value for that site for that particular month and year. The new, 
Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data 15

updated withdrawal values and any corrections are stored 

in the template in the proper format to be uploaded into the 

NJWaTr database with the data for the year of interest. An 

annual data update to the NJWaTr database includes the new, 

withdrawal values for the year of interest and any updates to 

the historical data that became available, as well as, if applicable, both of the corresponding, corrected withdrawal values 

discovered during the QA/QC procedure. For the historical 

updates, the older, estimated values that are replaced by the 

newer, withdrawal values become “non-preferred” withdrawal 

values, and the updates become “preferred” withdrawal 

values, but both are retained in NJWaTr and remain trackable. 

The original data for the year of interest, if corrected, also 

remain in the database as non-preferred, and the corrections 

become the preferred withdrawal values. As a result, all original data and any corrections or updates can be tracked, and 

any changes to the data over time can be easily retrieved from 

the NJWaTr database.

Estimating Nulls and Missing Data

The final step in the QA/QC procedure of the year of 

interest’s withdrawal data is to estimate any nulls or missing 

data from the electronic dataset using historical data. As previously mentioned, this step of the QA/QC procedure ended 

with the 2016 data and is included here to describe how data 

were estimated from 2003 to 2016. Null data are culled from 

the dataset for the year of interest and matched to the exported 

historical data, by site and month. The null value is estimated 

using available, preferred historical data for the month and 

site. The historical data from 2003 to 1 year before the year 

of interest include updates, corrections, and inclusions from 

the previous step and are made up of preferred, withdrawal 

values and non-estimated, withdrawal values only. This allows 

each site and month combination to have a historical average 

value per month composed of as many years of available data 

as possible, without including any estimates in the resulting 

calculation. Once the monthly historical average is calculated 

per site, that value replaces any null values in the dataset for 

the year of interest, using a monthly, site-specific estimation. 

The new estimated, withdrawal values are marked “estimated” 

and included in the formatted dataset that are uploaded into 

the NJWaTr database. Only gaps of missing data in that year 

of interest’s monthly dataset are estimated. For sites having 

a whole year of missing monthly records, the site’s monthly 

records are not estimated or included, and the sites are 

assumed to be either proposed sites with data coming online 

in the future or sites that are potentially in a non-operational 

status for that year.

The new dataset with the estimated withdrawal values is 

again compared to the monthly and annual allocation permit 

total withdrawal values to verify no overages were introduced 

with the estimations. An overage might indicate the null withdrawal values should have been entered as zero. Corrections 

are made by examining a permit’s annual (and later monthly) 

allocation limit values and using that sites’ historical monthly 

period of record data as supporting evidence. Any necessary 

and appropriate corrections are made and documented.

Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) and 

Surface-Water Returns Data

Aquifer storage data track the storage of available unused 

water that is pumped from a useable and accessible source and 

stored for later use, typically in an aquifer. Potential sources of 

stored water include groundwater from other aquifers, surface 

water that has been treated, or treated wastewater. Aquifer 

recovery data track the removal of this stored water from 

the aquifer for use at a later date (New Jersey Department of 

Environmental Protection, 2017). Surface-water return data 

track water taken from surficial sources, utilized by humans 

(including industrial, agricultural, and other uses), and 

then returned to the surface-water system (U.S. Geological 

Survey, 2013).

Data for aquifer storage and recovery and surface-water 

returns are obtained from three text files in the electronic data 

delivery received from NJDEP BWA (fig. 2). Aquifer storage 

data are acquired from a file titled WATER STORED UNITS 

MI 01012003 TO MMDDYYYY.csv. Aquifer recovery data 

are acquired from a file titled WATER RECOVERED ASR 

UNIT MI 01012003 TO MMDDYYYY.csv (fig. 2). Surfacewater returns data are acquired from a file titled WATER 

RETURNED UNITS MI 01012003 to MMDDYYYY.csv 

(fig. 2). The only difference to the file nomenclature over time 

is that the date at the end of the file name will change as subsequent years are added to the dataset.

Though different in context and meaning, these three 

types of data are handled similarly. The monthly data for the 

year of interest are retrieved and transformed from a widetable format (January through December) into a long-table 

format of monthly data by site and corresponding permit (as 

for the withdrawal data, described earlier). The data are stored 

as monthly values, and each site must be associated with its 

corresponding transfer conveyance parts. A conveyance is 

the process of transferring water from one place to another 

and has a “from” side (source) and a “to” side (destination). 

For example, a transfer may be from a groundwater well or a 

surface water site to an aquifer for storage, and then from the

aquifer to the user. To process these data, the associations must 

be made between the “from” and “to” sides to link the volume 

of stored water to its source and its destination.

For aquifer storage and recovery sites, the conveyance 

sides “from” and “to,” which become the From and To SiteNames in NJWaTr, are made up of either the Drinking Water 

Service Area permit number that is assigned to that particular 

ASR site or the original site identifier information contained 

in either the file WATER STORED UNITS MI 01012003 TO 

MMDDYYYY.csv or the file WATER RECOVERED ASR 

UNIT MI 01012003 TO MMDDYYYY.csv, with “_ASR” 

appended to the end. The “from” and “to” sides of the 
16 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data

conveyance, and the corresponding From and To SiteNames, 

switch depending on whether the data are storage transfers or 

recovery transfers.

Storage transfers are associated with their conveyance 

sides—the “from” side of the conveyance, titled the FromSite 

SiteName in NJWaTr, becomes “ASR_storage,” and the “to” 

side of the conveyance, titled the ToSite SiteName in NJWaTr, 

is created by using the associated SiteName (garnered from 

site identifier information contained in the file entitled WATER 

STORED UNITS MI 01012003 TO MMDDYYYY.csv) and 

attaching “_ASR” to the end. The example in figure 12 shows 

the file titled WATER STORED UNITS MI 01012003 TO 

MMDDYYYY.csv in its raw, wide format as delivered in the 

original electronic file dataset (fig. 2). The PREF_ID_NUM 

and the SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION fields are used to 

create the ToSite Sitename with “_ASR” appended to the end 

(fig.12, enlarged insets). The example in figure 13 shows the 

resulting From and To SiteNames that become associated with 

the storage transfer conveyance. These From and To SiteNames are associated with their corresponding aquifer storage 

monthly transfer volumes and are uploaded as such into the 

NJWaTr database.

PREF_ID_NUM

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

MON_YEAR PREF_ID_NUM SUBJECT_ITEM_ID JAN_RESULT FEB_RESULT MAR_RESULT APR_RESULT MAY_RESULT JUN_RESULT JUL_RESULT AUG_RESULT SEP_RESULT OCT_RESULT NOV_RESULT DEC_RESULT SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION

2003 5057 WSWL69723 6.372 4.987 6.159 5.419 4.42 0.921 0 0 1.866 6.17 5.033 5.362 3700000640

2004 5057 WSWL69723 5.541 4.929 5.226 5.199 4.455 4.266 0 0 3.324 5.405 4.787 4.521 3700000640

2005 5057 WSWL69723 5.689 4.649 5.168 4.846 4.561 3.93 0 0 3.621 4.687 4.543 4.684 3700000640

2006 5057 WSWL69723 4.869 1.982 0 5.423 5.344 5.141 0 0 0 6.107 6.554 7.157 3700000640

2007 5057 WSWL69723 6.702 5.644 0.411 6.846 2.087 0 0 0 5.21 6.815 5.912 5.463 3700000640

2008 5057 WSWL69723 5.496 4.715 4.448 4.853 4.608 2.001 0 0 3.908 5.459 4.477 4.519 3700000640

2009 5057 WSWL69723 5.253 5.592 5.312 4.818 4.455 3.134 0 0 4.177 3.583 4.145 5.42 3700000640

2010 5057 WSWL69723 4.906 3.673 5.418 5.387 4.314 3.805 0 0 3.197 6.395 6.117 5.447 3700000640

2011 5057 WSWL69723 6.263 6.644 7.878 6.44 7.471 3.946 0 0 4.91 6.514 5.996 6.451 3700000640

2012 5057 WSWL69723 6.559 7.153 6.302 7.541 7.206 1.522 0 0 5.565 6.574 6.422 7.017 3700000640

2013 5057 WSWL69723 5.759 5.833 6.572 6.845 6.667 3.884 0 0 3.777 2.165 0 0 3700000640

2014 5057 WSWL69723 0 0 0 0 3.008 6.885 0 0 4.98 6.732 6.166 6.216 3700000640

2015 5057 WSWL69723 5.945 5.765 6.87 7.361 4.042 0 0 0 4.686 6.825 7.527 6.54 3700000640

2016 5057 WSWL69723 5.298 5.95 6.028 6.473 3.164 0 0 0 0 7.435 7.858 7.859 3700000640

2017 5057 WSWL69723 6.596 6.046 7.512 5.006 4.925 0 0 0 0 6.632 7.955 6.773 3700000640

2018 5057 WSWL69723 6.64 6.637 7.304 7.245 3.444 0 0 0 4.524 6.511 6.606 6.205 3700000640

2019 5057 WSWL69723 6.123 6.089 6.572 5.406 4.011 0 0 0 3.849 3700000640

Figure 12. Example of raw data from the file WATER STORED UNITS MI 01012003 TO MMDDYYYY.csv as received in the 

electronic dataset delivery from the Bureau of Water Allocation. Insets show enlarged columns PREF_ID_NUM (BWA Permit) 

and SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION (NJPermit), which make up the “to” side (To SiteName) of the conveyance for stored water 

transfers. (BWA, Bureau of Water Allocation; MON, Monitoring; PREF, Preferred)

Figure 13. Example of the “from” and “to” NJWaTr SiteNames for the conveyance of a 

stored water transfer. The “to” side of the conveyance SiteName is derived from the fields 

provided in the raw data from the file WATER STORED UNITS MI 01012003 TO MMDDYYYY.

csv received in the electronic dataset delivery from the BWA. (BWA, Bureau of Water 

Allocation; ASR, Aquifer Storage and Recovery)
Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data 17

Recovered water transfers are associated with their 

transfer conveyance sides. The “from” side of the conveyance, titled FromSite SiteName in NJWaTr, is created by 

using the associated SiteName (garnered from site identifier 

information contained in the file WATER RECOVERED ASR 

UNIT MI 01012003 TO MMDDYYYY.csv) and attaching 

“_ASR” to the end. The “to” side of the conveyance, titled 

ToSite SiteName in NJWaTr, becomes the associated Drinking 

Water Service Area, to which that stored water is delivered 

and used. If the Drinking Water Service Area is unknown, 

the ToSite SiteName becomes “ASR_recovered” as a holder 

until more information becomes available. The example in 

figure 14 shows the file WATER RECOVERED ASR UNIT 

MI 01012003 TO MMDDYYYY.csv in its raw, wide format 

as delivered in the original electronic file dataset (fig. 2). The 

PREF_ID_NUM and the SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION 

fields are used to create the FromSite Sitename with “_ASR” 

appended to the end (fig.14, enlarged insets). The example 

in figure 15 shows the resulting From and To SiteNames that 

become associated with the recovered water transfer conveyance. These From and To SiteNames are associated with their 

corresponding aquifer recovered water monthly transfer volumes and are uploaded as such into the NJWaTr database.

PREF_ID_NUM

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

5057

SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

3700000640

MON_YEAR PREF_ID_NUM SUBJECT_ITEM_ID JAN_RESULT FEB_RESULT MAR_RESULT APR_RESULT MAY_RESULT JUN_RESULT JUL_RESULT AUG_RESULT SEP_RESULT OCT_RESULT NOV_RESULT DEC_RESULT SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION

2008 5057 WSWL69723 0 0 8.81 18.994 16.897 0.404 0 0 0 3700000640

2009 5057 WSWL69723 0 0 0 0 0 0.645 18.253 16.414 3.465 0 0 0 3700000640

2010 5057 WSWL69723 0 0 0 0 0 0.734 20.412 19.411 3.143 0 0 0 3700000640

2011 5057 WSWL69723 0 0 0 0 0 1.403 19.666 19.615 8.538 0 0 0 3700000640

2012 5057 WSWL69723 0 0 0 0 0 4.257 22.349 23.013 8.329 0 0 0 3700000640

2013 5057 WSWL69723 0 0 0 0 0 3.417 17.938 24.641 11.852 0 0 0 3700000640

2014 5057 WSWL69723 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.315 5.674 0 0 0 0 3700000640

2015 5057 WSWL69723 0 0 0 0 0 0.683 21.95 22.062 6.086 0 0 0 3700000640

2016 5057 WSWL69723 0 0 0 0 0 1.381 20.987 21.744 6.579 0 0 0 3700000640

2017 5057 WSWL69723 0 0 0 0 0 3.08 24.609 21.243 6.897 0 0 0 3700000640

2018 5057 WSWL69723 0 0 0 10.154 0 3.778 7.783 26.029 10.937 0 0 0 3700000640

2019 5057 WSWL69723 0 0 0 0 0 0 20.162 21.516 7.292 3700000640

Figure 14. Example of raw data from the file WATER RECOVERED ASR UNIT MI 01012003 TO MMDDYYYY.csv as received in the 

electronic dataset delivery from the Bureau of Water Allocation. Insets show enlarged columns PREF_ID_NUM (BWA Permit) and 

SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION (NJPermit) that make up the “from” side (From SiteName) of the conveyance for recovered water 

transfers. (BWA, Bureau of Water Allocation; NJ, New Jersey; MON, Monitoring; PREF, Preferred)

SiteName_From SiteName_To

BWA:5057:3700000640_ASR DW Service Area 0xxx001

Figure 15. Example of the “from” and “to” NJWaTr SiteNames for the conveyance of a recovered water transfer. The 

from side of the conveyance SiteName is derived from the fields provided in the raw data from the file WATER RECOVERED 

ASR UNIT MI 01012003 TO MMDDYYYY.csv received in the electronic dataset delivery from the Bureau of Water Allocation. 

(BWA, Bureau of Water Allocation; ASR, Aquifer Storage and Recovery; 

DW, Drinking Water)
18 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data

Note that the From SiteName of the recovered water 

transfer is the same as the To SiteName from the stored water 

transfer conveyance (the source of the recovered water is 

the repository of the stored water), and the To SiteName of 

the recovered water transfer becomes the distribution to its 

Drinking Water Service Area. Once the aquifer storage and 

recovery transfers are associated with their corresponding 

From and To SiteNames and their monthly transfer data for the 

year of interest, these data can be checked. When complete, 

the storage and recovery data can be matched against each 

other on a monthly or yearly basis to track net amounts.

Surface water that is returned to its source is associated 

with its transfer conveyance sides; the “from” side of the conveyance, titled the FromSite SiteName in NJWaTr, becomes 

the corresponding BWA Use Area that is associated with its 

SiteName (garnered from site identifier information contained 

in the file WATER RETURNED UNITS MI 01012003 TO 

MMDDYYYY.csv), and the “to” side of the conveyance, titled 

the ToSite SiteName in NJWaTr, becomes “Return Flow.” 

The example in figure 16 shows the file WATER RETURNED 

UNITS MI 01012003 TO MMDDYYYY.csv in its raw, wide 

format as delivered in the original electronic file dataset 

(fig. 2). The PREF_ID_NUM and the SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION fields are used to create the FromSite SiteName 

with “BWA Use Area” appended to the beginning (fig.16, 

enlarged insets). The example in figure 17 shows the resulting From and To SiteNames that become associated with the 

surface-water returns transfer conveyance.

PREF_ID_NUM

2285P

2285P

2285P

2285P

2285P

2285P

2285P

2285P

2285P

2285P

2285P

2285P

2285P

2285P

SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION

POND 1

POND 1

POND 1

POND 1

POND 1

POND 1

POND 1

POND 1

POND 1

POND 1

POND 1

POND 1

POND 1

POND 1

MON_YEAR PREF_ID_NUM SUBJECT_ITEM_ID JAN_RESULT FEB_RESULT MAR_RESULT APR_RESULT MAY_RESULT JUN_RESULT JUL_RESULT AUG_RESULT SEP_RESULT OCT_RESULT NOV_RESULT DEC_RESULT SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION

2003 2285P WSIN73125 7.2 12.2 15.1 10.8 15.1 15.1 15.8 15.1 15.8 15.8 11.5 14.4 POND 1

2004 2285P WSIN73125 10.7 10.2 11.7 10.8 7.2 10.8 15.1 15.8 10.8 15.1 15.1 15.8 POND 1

2005 2285P WSIN73125 15.1 15.1 16.55 12.9 18 13.7 15.1 15.1 15.1 POND 1

2006 2285P WSIN73125 15.1 14.4 16.6 14.4 15.8 15.8 14.4 16.5 14.4 12.2 9.4 14.4 POND 1

2007 2285P WSIN73125 10.8 7.9 15.1 15.1 15.8 15.1 15.1 12.9 13.6 15.8 15.1 12.9 POND 1

2008 2285P WSIN73125 15.1 15.1 15.1 15.1 14.4 10.8 15.1 14.4 15.1 12.2 13.6 10.8 POND 1

2009 2285P WSIN73125 3.6 11.5 12.2 8.6 13.6 10.8 16.5 12.9 15.1 15.8 14.4 10.8 POND 1

2010 2285P WSIN73125 12.9 12.9 15.8 15.1 5.7 14.4 14.4 15.8 15.1 14.4 15.1 10 POND 1

2011 2285P WSIN73125 0 11.5 15.8 15.1 15.1 15.8 14.4 12.2 15.1 14.4 15.1 13.6 POND 1

2012 2285P WSIN73125 14.4 15.1 15.1 8.6 15.8 15.1 15.1 16.5 13.6 16.5 15.1 12.9 POND 1

2013 2285P WSIN73125 15.8 14.4 15.8 12.6 12.6 11.5 15.8 15.8 14.4 16.56 14.4 14.4 POND 1

2014 2285P WSIN73125 13.6 15.1 15.1 15.8 15.1 15.1 15.8 15.1 15.1 16.6 13.7 15.1 POND 1

2015 2285P WSIN73125 10.8 3.6 8.64 15.84 14.4 15.84 9.36 13.68 7.92 15.12 14.4 9.36 POND 1

2016 2285P WSIN73125 0 0 0 15.1 15.1 15.8 6.48 16.56 10.8 15.12 14.4 5.76 POND 1

Figure 16. Example of raw data from the file WATER RETURNED UNITS MI 01012003 TO MMDDYYYY.csv as received in the electronic 

dataset delivery from the Bureau of Water Allocation. Insets show enlarged columns entitled PREF_ID_NUM (BWA Permit) and 

SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION (NJPermit) that make up the “from” side (From SiteName) of the conveyance for surface-water return 

transfers. (BWA, Bureau of Water Allocation; NJ, New Jersey; MON, Monitoring; PREF, preferred)

SiteName_From SiteName_To

BWA Use Area:2285P:POND 1 Return Flow

Figure 17. Example of the “from” and “to” NJWaTr SiteNames for the conveyance of a 

surface-water return transfer. The “from” side of the conveyance SiteName is derived from the 

fields provided in the raw data from the file WATER RETURNED UNITS MI 01012003 TO MMDDYYYY.

csv received in electronic dataset delivery from the Bureau of Water Allocation. (BWA, Bureau of 

Water Allocation)
Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data 19

The ASR and surface-water returns monthly data records 

are checked and quality assured as described below. The aquifer storage and recovery data are matched to each other using 

their corresponding From and To SiteNames and checked 

against each other. For the ASR data, a month within the year 

is compared to all other months within that year for those 

matched storages and recoveries, and the monthly records are 

compared to previous years’ ASR data by site, to elicit any 

units issues or gross typographical errors. For the surfacewater returns data, a month within the year is compared to all 

other months within that year, and all months are compared to 

previous years’ surface-water returns data, by site, to elicit any 

units issues or gross typographical errors. For example, the 

surface-water return value for March 2015 is compared to all 

the other surface-water return values for the rest of the months 

in 2015 and any other monthly value for that site provided 

in previous years’ datasets. Corrections and (or) updates are 

made, where appropriate, and documented with the proper 

QA/QC flags.

Wastewater Discharge Data

The wastewater discharge data, which come from the 

New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES), contain multiple measurements for each site for 

any given month. Each of these measurements is assigned 

a method code in the original dataset received from NJPDES. These method codes describe the different types of 

measurements made and are used to evaluate the data. A list 

of the possible method codes accompanying the wastewater 

data is show in table 3. The large amount of wastewater data 

must be reduced and ranked such that priority can be assigned 

to the best, most accurate method available in the dataset for 

that site/month combination. The value for the method that has 

the highest rank for each site/month combination is the one 

retained and subsequently loaded into the NJWaTr database. 

Possible measurement methods, their codes and descriptions, 

and the ranking list, which prioritizes the different measurement methods, are shown in table 3.

The wastewater data from NJDPES have units different 

from those stored in NJWaTr, and conversions are done to 

change units to millions of gallons per month. Some of the 

discharge volume values must be deleted because letters, symbols, or other characters are in the volume field.

Once the data are formatted and converted to the correct units, a SiteName is generated from the NJPDES permit 

number, concatenated with the discharge pipe number or 

monitoring location, for example, NJPDES:NJ0024716.002A. 

This SiteName becomes the “to” side of the conveyance, also 

known as the ToSite in NJWaTr, and the “from” side of the 

conveyance, also known as the FromSite in NJWaTr, is the 

NJPDES permit number associated with its corresponding 

Sewer Service Area (SSA), for example, SSA:NJ0024716.

After associating the sites with their conveyance parts, 

the wastewater discharge volume values are evaluated to 

determine whether any monthly discharges for the year of 

Table 3. Wastewater method code abbreviations, descriptions, and ranks, as associated with data received from the New Jersey 

Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. 

[N/A, Not Available]

Method abbreviation Method description Rank

01MOTO Monthly total 1

01MOAV Monthly average 2

01DAAV Daily average 3

01WKAV Weekly average 4

01QTAV Quarterly average 5

01YRAVYearly average 6

06MOAV N/A 7

01DAAVMN Daily average minimum 8

12MORLAV N/A 9

01WKAVMX Weekly average maximum 10

01QTTO N/A 11

01DAMX Daily maximum 12

01MOMX Monthly maximum 13

01RPINMX Instantaneous maximum 14

01RPMX Maximum 15

01YRMXYearly maximum 16

01QTMX Quarterly maximum 17
20 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data

interest exceed the historical average for each month for that 

site by greater than 50 percent. If any site-month-year combination is discharging more than 50 percent of historical averages for a month, the site-month-year record will be flagged. 

The flag becomes part of the record uploaded into NJWaTr as 

part of the template in both the “Column comment” field and 

the “QA flag” field. Wastewater data are never changed or corrected once the proper unit conversions are made.

Lastly, the checked and potentially flagged wastewater discharge volume values and their FromSite and ToSite 

SiteNames are compiled into a template to be loaded in the 

NJWaTr database. For new wastewater sites, new From Site 

and To Site SiteNames are generated, and other geographical information that describes the site location, as well as 

other identifying information, are added to the templates to be 

uploaded into the NJWaTr database.

Final Processing of All Quality Assured Data, 

Including New Sites

Once the data have been checked and processed 

with appropriate documentation, the various data types—

withdrawal, aquifer storage and recovery, surface-water 

returns, and wastewater—are loaded into templates that are 

then uploaded to the main NJWaTr database. These templates 

include the withdrawal/discharge volume data, as well as all 

accompanying information for new sites. This accompanying 

information includes new conveyances (associating the “from” 

side From SiteName with the “to” side To SiteName), any 

site aliases, site permits, site-location information, resource 

information, specialized regional area information, Census 

Block information, water-use type category, and owner information. The site aliases include SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATIONs (also known as NJPermit) and NWIS Site Numbers. 

The site permits include BWA permit numbers (also known 

as PI IDs or PREF_ID_NUMs) or NJPDES permit numbers, 

as appropriate. Site location information includes longitude 

and latitude, the 14-digit Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC14), 

the minor civil division (MCD) code, the Geographic Names 

Information System (GNIS) code, the county code, and the 

state code. The site resource information includes whether 

the site is a surface-water or groundwater site, the aquifer 

in which the groundwater site is drilled and from which the 

groundwater site is withdrawing, the confinement status for 

the groundwater site, whether or not the groundwater site is 

located in a critical area, and the geologic formation information for that site. Specialized regional area information 

includes whether the site is in the Highlands or Pinelands 

Preservation Areas or in either of New Jersey’s Critical

Areas.

After the various templates have been completed and 

approved, they are uploaded to the NJWaTr database. The 

NJWaTr database is considered complete for that year of interest, and this new version of the NJWaTr database becomes the 

current approved version for water-use data for New Jersey.
Glossary

AllocationPreProcessor A part of the Allocation Tool 

that parses out the different groups to which each site belongs.

BWA Permit (Also known as PI ID and PREF_

NUM_ID) A permit number assigned by the New Jersey 

Department of Environmental Protection Bureau of Water 

Allocation, that is given to a site or group of sites that share 

the same owner. An owner may have more than one BWA 

permit. A BWA permit can be made up of groundwater or 

surface-water sites and (or) groups. An example of a public 

supply BWA permit is 5057.

BWA_UID (Also known as NJEMS ID and SUBJECT_ITEM_ID) A unique identifier assigned by the 

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Bureau 

of Water Allocation, that is a concatenation of the 4-letter 

SUBJECT_ITEM_CATEGORY_CODE and a 5- or 6-digit 

numerical SUBJECT_ITEM_ID, which can be found in 

the file SUBJECT ITEMS also known as SOURCES BY 

PI MMDDYYYY TO MMDDYYYY.csv from the original 

electronic dataset. An example of a BWA_UID for a well is 

WSWL960664.

BWA Use Area An area that defines where the withdrawn water is used. For withdrawal sites, it is analogous to 

the To SiteName in NJWaTr.

From SiteName A site name used in NJWaTr for a 

water-use site that serves as the source of the conveyance of 

water transferred from one place to another.

GNIS Code A Geographic Names Information System 

code given to physical and cultural features across the 

United States.

HUC14 A 14-digit Hydrologic Unit Code that defines a 

subwatershed’s drainage area boundaries.

MCD Code A minor civil division is a code defined 

by the U.S. Census Bureau that signifies a town, township, or 

district.

.

NJEMS ID (Also known as BWA_UID and SUBJECT_ITEM_ID) Another name for BWA_UID, as used in 

the NJWaTr database site file. See BWA_UID.

NJPermit (Also known as SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION) Another name for SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION, as used in the USGS NJWSC’s internal database of 

water-use sites. See SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION.

NJWaTr SiteName A site name given to a site, mandatory for inclusion into the NJWaTr database. A SiteName is 

made up of the BWA permit and the SUBJECT_ITEM_

DESIGNATION. An example is BWA:10000W:4500061135, 

where 10000W is the BWA permit and 4500061135 is the 

SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION.

NWIS Site Number A 15-digit number (representing longitude and latitude) given to a groundwater site or 

an 8-digit number (representing downstream order number) 

given to a surface-water site by the USGS NJWSC Database 

Administrator that indicates entry into the National Water 

Information System (NWIS). A unique identifier for a site in 

the USGS NWIS database.

PI ID (Also known as BWA Permit and PREF_

NUM_ID) Another name for BWA Permit, as used in the 

electronic dataset received from the New Jersey Department 

of Environmental Protection Bureau of Water Allocation. See 

BWA Permit.

PREF_NUM_ID (Also known as BWA Permit and 

PI ID) Another name for BWA Permit, as used in the electronic dataset received from the New Jersey Department of 

Environmental Protection Bureau of Water Allocation. See 

BWA Permit.

SUBJECT_ITEM_CATEGORY CODE A code 

assigned by the New Jersey Department of Environmental 

Protection Bureau of Water Allocation, to indicate the category 

to which the site belongs, for example WSWL is used for a 

well and WSIN is used for a surface-water intake site. When 

combined with the SUBJECT_ITEM_ID, it makes up the 

BWA_UID, also known as NJEMS ID.

SUBJECT_ITEM_DESIGNATION (Also known as 

NJPermit) The State Well Drilling Permit Number or Surface 

Water Intake Number/Name, as assigned by the NJDEP BWA 

and used to identify sites in the electronic dataset received 

from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection 

Bureau of Water Allocation.

SUBJECT_ITEM_ID (Also known as BWA_UID

and NJEMS ID) Another name for BWA_UID, as used in the 

electronic dataset received from the New Jersey Department 

of Environmental Protection Bureau of Water Allocation. 

See BWA_UID.

To SiteName A site name used in NJWaTr for a wateruse site that serves as the destination of the conveyance of 

water transferred from one place to another.

Glossary 21
References Cited

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2017, 

New Jersey water supply plan 2017–2022: West Trenton, 

N.J., New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 

484 p, accessed August 19, 2019, at https://www.nj.gov/dep/

watersupply/wsp.html.

Tessler, S., 2003, Data model and relational database design 

for the New Jersey Water-Transfer Data System (NJWaTr): 

U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 03–197, accessed 

August 20, 2019, at https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/

ofr03197/.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), 2013. The water 

cycle—Surface runoff: U.S. Geological Survey Water 

Science School web page, accessed August 21, 2019, at 

https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/

science/surface-runoff-and-water-cycle?qt-science_center_

objects=0#qt-science_center_objects.

22 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data
Appendix 1 Selected Publications that Include Data from New Jersey Water Transfer Data System (NJWaTr) 23

Appendix 1 Selected Publications that Include Data from New Jersey Water 

Transfer Data System (NJWaTr) 

Simulated effects of allocated and projected 2025 withdrawals from the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system, 

Gloucester and Northeastern Salem Counties, New Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2011–5033

Prepared in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

By: Emmanuel Charles, John P. Nawyn, Lois M. Voronin, and Alison D. Gordon

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20115033

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20115033

Simulated effects of groundwater withdrawals from the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system and Piney Point aquifer, 

Maurice and Cohansey River Basins, Cumberland County and vicinity, New Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2017–5144

Prepared in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

By: Alison D. Gordon and Debra E. Buxton

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20175144

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20175144

Estimated use of water in the Delaware River Basin in Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, 2010

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2015–5142

By: Susan S. Hutson, Kristin S. Linsey, Russell A. Ludlow, Betzaida Reyes, and Jennifer L. Shourds

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20155142

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20155142

Simulated effects of projected 2010 withdrawals on ground-water flow and water levels in the New Jersey Coastal 

Plain—A task of the New Jersey Water Supply Plan, 2006 revision

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2007–5134

Prepared in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

By: Alison D. Gordon

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20075134

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20075134

Hydrogeology of, and Simulation of Ground-Water Flow In, the Pohatcong Valley, Warren County, New Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5269

Prepared in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

By: Glen B. Carleton and Alison D. Gordon

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20065269

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20065269

Hydrology of the unconfined Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system, Forked River and Cedar, Oyster, Mill, Westecunk, and 

Tuckerton Creek Basins and adjacent basins in the southern Ocean County area, New Jersey, 1998–99

U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 2003–4337

By: Alison D. Gordon

https://doi.org/10.3133/wri034337

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/wri034337

Simulation of the Ground-water flow system in 1992, and simulated effects of projected ground-water withdrawals in 

2020 in the New Jersey Coastal Plain Water-Resources Investigations Report 2003–4000

Prepared in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

By: Alison D. Gordon

https://doi.org/10.3133/wri20034000

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/wri20034000
24 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure for New Jersey’s Water-Use Data for the NJWaTr

Simulation of groundwater flow and movement of the freshwater-saltwater interface in the New Jersey coastal plain

U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 98–4216

By: Daryll A. Pope and Alison D. Gordon

https://doi.org/10.3133/wri984216

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/wri984216

Simulation of transient ground-water flow in the valley-fill aquifers of the Upper Rockaway River Basin, Morris County, 

New Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 2001–4174

Prepared in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

By: Alison D. Gordon

https://doi.org/10.3133/wri20014174

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/wri20014174

Groundwater flow in the New Jersey Coastal Plain

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1404– H

By: Mary Martin

https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1404H

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1404H

Geohydrology and simulation of groundwater flow in the Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain aquifer system

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1404– K

By: P.P. Leahy and Mary Martin

https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1404K

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1404K

Groundwater flow in the New Jersey coastal plain

U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 87–528

By: Mary Martin

https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr87528

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/ofr87528

Groundwater-withdrawal and water-level data used to simulate regional flow in the major coastal plain aquifers of New 

Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 87–4038

By: O.S. Zapecza, L.M. Voronin, and Mary Martin

https://doi.org/10.3133/wri874038

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/wri874038

Hydrogeology of, and simulated groundwater flow in, the valley-fill aquifers of the upper Rockaway River basin, Morris 

County, New Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 93–4145

By: Alison D. Gordon

https://doi.org/10.3133/wri934145

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/wri934145

Simulated effects of alternative withdrawal strategies on groundwater flow in the unconfined Kirkwood-Cohansey 

aquifer system, the Rio Grande water-bearing zone, and the Atlantic City 800-foot sand in the Great Egg Harbor and 

Mullica River Basins, New Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2012–5187

Prepared in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

By: Daryll A. Pope, Glen B. Carleton, Debra E. Buxton, Richard L. Walker, Jennifer L. Shourds, and Pamela A. Reilly

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20125187

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20125187
Appendix 1 Selected Publications that Include Data from New Jersey Water Transfer Data System (NJWaTr) 25

Future water-supply scenarios, Cape May County, New Jersey, 2003–2050

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2009–5187

Prepared in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

By: Pierre J. Lacombe, Glen B. Carleton, Daryll A. Pope, and Donald E. Rice

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20095187

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20095187

Summary of the ground-water-level hydrologic conditions in New Jersey 2006

U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2007–3049

By: Walter Jones and Daryll Pope

https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20073049

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/fs20073049

Simulation of proposed increases in groundwater withdrawals on the Atlantic City 800-foot sand, New Jersey coastal 

plain

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2006–5114

By: Daryll A. Pope

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20065114

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20065114

Use of a groundwater flow model to delineate contributing areas to the Puchack Well Field, Pennsauken township and 

vicinity, Camden county, New Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2004–5101

By: Daryll A. Pope and Martha K. Watt

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20045101

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20045101

Simulation of groundwater flow in the Potomac-Raritan-Magothy aquifer system, Pennsauken Township and vicinity, 

New Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2004–5025

By: Daryll A. Pope and Martha K. Watt

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20045025

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20045025

Hydrogeology, simulation of regional groundwater flow, and saltwater intrusion, Potomac-Raritan-Magothy Aquifer 

System, Northern Coastal Plain of New Jersey

New Jersey Geological Survey Geological Survey Report GSR 36

Prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and 

Energy Division of Science and Research Geological Survey

By: Amleto A. Pucci, Jr., Daryll A. Pope, and JoAnn M. Gronberg

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70159214

Water-level conditions in the confined aquifers of the New Jersey Coastal Plain, 2008

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2013–5232

Prepared in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

By: Vincent T. Depaul and Robert Rosman

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20135232

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20135232

Water-Level Conditions in Selected Confined Aquifers of the New Jersey and Delaware Coastal Plain, 2003

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2008–5145

Prepared in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

By: Vincent T. dePaul, Robert Rosman, and Pierre J. Lacombe

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20085145

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20085145
26 Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure For New Jersey’s Water-Use Data

Recovery of Ground-Water Levels from 1988 to 2003 and Analysis of Effects of 2003 and Full-Allocation Withdrawals in 

Critical Area 2, Southern New Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2008–5142

Prepared in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

By: Frederick J. Spitz and Vincent T. dePaul

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20085142

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20085142

Simulated groundwater flow paths, travel time, and advective transport of nitrogen in the Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer 

system, Barnegat Bay–Little Egg Harbor Watershed, New Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5169

Prepared in cooperation with the Barnegat Bay Partnership

By: Lois M. Voronin and Stephen J. Cauller

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20165169

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20165169

Simulated effects of groundwater withdrawals from aquifers in Ocean County and vicinity, New Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5035

Prepared in cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

By: Stephen J. Cauller, Lois M. Voronin, and Mary M. Chepiga

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20165035

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20165035

Hydrogeology and Simulated Effects of Ground-Water Withdrawals, Kirkwood-Cohansey Aquifer System, Upper 

Maurice River Basin Area, New Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Report 2005–5258

Prepared in Cooperation with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

By: Stephen J. Cauller and Glen B. Carleton

https://doi.org/10.3133/sir20055258

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20055258

Hydrogeology of, water withdrawal from, and water levels and chloride concentrations in the major Coastal Plain 

aquifers of Gloucester and Salem Counties, New Jersey

U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 98–4136

By: S.J. Cauller, G.B. Carleton, and M.J. Storck

https://doi.org/10.3133/wri984136

https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/wri984136

New Jersey Water Supply Plan 2017-2022

By: State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, 2017, 484 p.

https://www.nj.gov/dep/watersupply/wsp.html
For additional information contact:

Director, New Jersey Water Science Center

U.S. Geological Survey

3450 Princeton Pike, Suite 110

Lawrenceville, NJ 08648

Or visit our website at: 

https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nj-water

Publishing support provided by the

West Trenton Publishing Science Center
Shourds—Quality Assurance/Quality Control Procedure for New Jersey’s Water-Use Data for the New Jersey Water Transfer Data System (NJWaTr)—OFR 2020–1085

ISSN 2331-1258 (online)

https://doi.org/ 10.3133/ ofr20201085