Wanaque River
Encyclopedia
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
of the Pequannock River
Pequannock River
The Pequannock River is a tributary of the Pompton River, approximately 20 miles long, located in northern New Jersey in the United States....
in Passaic County
Passaic County, New Jersey
Passaic County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 501,226. Its county seat is Paterson...
in northern New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Once known as the Long Pond River, the sources of the Wanaque River are Greenwood Lake
Greenwood Lake
Greenwood Lake is an interstate lake approximately seven miles long, straddling the border of New Jersey and New York. It is located in West Milford, New Jersey and Greenwood Lake, New York ....
, once known as Long Pond (not to be confused with the nearby village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of Greenwood Lake
Greenwood Lake, New York
Greenwood Lake is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the village population was 3,411. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New...
in the state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
) and the watershed known as Sterling Forest.
Both Greenwood Lake and Sterling Forest straddle the border of the states of New Jersey and New York.
Downstream, the construction of dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
s at Monks and Wanaque
Wanaque, New Jersey
Wanaque is a borough in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 11,116.Wanaque was incorporated as an independent Borough on February 23, 1918, when Pompton Township was split up into three Boroughs, along with Bloomingdale and...
created the Monksville and Wanaque reservoirs, respectively.
From the Raymond Dam of the Wanaque reservoir, the river flows to its confluence with the Pequannock River.