Millstone River

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The Millstone River is a tributary of the Raritan River in central New Jersey in the United States.

The Millstone River begins in western Monmouth County and flows through southern Somerset County into the Raritan River at Manville. Almost three quarters of its length is paralleled by the Delaware and Raritan Canal. Both the Millstone River and parallel canal provide drinking water to portions of central New Jersey and provide recreational uses as well.

1 Flooding
2 Water Supply
3 Delaware and Raritan Canal
4 Tributaries
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Flooding

The Millstone River basin has suffered a number of severe flooding events over the past 200 years. Hurricane Floyd in September 1999 produced a particualarily severe flood in the basin, especially in the Lost Valley section of Manville, which sits on a flood plain between the Millstone River and the Raritan River.

Two Millstone River basin flood control and mitigation studies are currently underway by separate governmental bodies to determine if future flooding can be mitigated or controlled:

Millstone River Watershed Flood Damage and Mitigation Analysis Report - USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service

Flood Control Feasibility Study for Manville, NJ - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

[edit] Water Supply

The Millstone River provides drinking water to 10,000s of households and businesses in Central New Jersey. A water intake pumping station is located where the Millstone River and Raritan River meet. The water is purified and distributed by the New Jersey American Water.

[edit] Delaware and Raritan Canal

The Delaware and Raritan Canal runs along east side of the Millstone River for much of its length, from Lake Carnegie in Princeton, New Jersey to the location where the Millstone River empties into the Raritan River in Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey. The land between the canal and the river is a flood plain that generally consits of swamps, wooded areas and some farmland. A number of spillways allow water to run off from the canal into the Millstone River during periods of heavy water flow.