3.1.1. Tributary Inflows

Freshwater is delivered to Newark Bay through a number of major and minor waterways (Figure 2). The principal sources of freshwater are the Passaic [24] and Hackensack Rivers [25] with mean daily discharges of 47 m3 /s (1500 ft<sup>3</sup> /s) and 6 m3 /s (218 ft<sup>3</sup> /s), respectively. Minor contributors include the Peripheral Ditch and Piersons Creek (no flow data available), which empty directly into the Bay. The Rahway and Elizabeth Rivers, Piles Creek, Morses Creek, Old Place Creek and Fresh Kills Creek enter the Bay by way of the Arthur Kill tidal strait. The mean daily discharges from Rahway River [26], Elizabeth River [27], Morses Creek [28] and Fresh Kills Creek [29] are 1.2 m3 /s (41 ft<sup>3</sup> /s), 0.7 m3 /s (24 ft<sup>3</sup> /s), 0.06 m3 /s (2 ft<sup>3</sup> /s), and 0.4 m3 /s (14 ft3 /s); the remaining waterways (Piles Creek and Old Place Creek) do not have flow data available. Two other waterways, Oyster Creek and Maple Island Creek, formerly drained to the Bay (circa 1917), but have since been filled. Figure 2 shows the magnitude of the peak freshwater inflows into the NBSA, wherein the size of the open arrows qualitatively indicates the magnitude of the peak flows. The solid arrows indicate the typical flow direction of estuarine circulation during flood tide (red arrows are bottom salt water flows, and blue arrows are freshwater surface flows).
