Middle Brook is a
tributary
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...
of the
Raritan River
Raritan River is a major river of New Jersey. Its watershed drains much of the mountainous area of the central part of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay on the Atlantic Ocean.
History
Geologists assert that the lower Raritan provided t ...
in
Somerset County, New Jersey. The stream can be referred to as Rha-weigh-weiros, a Native American name meaning "running from a deep hole", on early maps of the area.
Washington Valley
The Middle Brook's western and eastern branches drain the valley, now known as Washington Valley, between the first and second
Watchung Mountain ridges in
Bridgewater Township and the western part of
Warren Township.
The two branches unite in the Bound Brook Gap and the Middle Brook runs southward where it enters the Raritan in
Bound Brook. The total drainage area is .
The Western Branch is followed by the Middle Brook Trail, a public hiking trail.
In
Washington Valley Park
Washington Valley Park is a public park between the first and second Watchung mountain ridge in the Martinsville section of Bridgewater Township, New Jersey that is administered by the Somerset County Park Commission. It contains the Washingt ...
, the brook forms an artificial lake, the Washington Valley Reservoir. The smaller Eastern Branch is also dammed and then cascades over the Buttermilk Falls in Washington Valley Park.
Flood control
The Middle Brook section in Bound Brook is being regulated as part of the
Green Brook Flood Control Project The Green Brook Flood Control Project is a flood control project in Somerset County in central New Jersey first proposed in the early 1970s in the wake of two major flooding events: a 1971 flood event and a major 1973 flood which ravaged the Green ...
in an attempt to spare Bound Brook flooding from backwater from the Raritan that can enter the terminal section of the Middle Brook.
See also
*
List of rivers of New Jersey
This is a list of streams and rivers of the U.S. state of New Jersey.
List of New Jersey rivers includes streams formally designated as rivers. There are also smaller streams (''i.e.,'' branches, creeks, drains, forks, licks, runs, etc.) in th ...
*
Middlebrook encampment "Middlebrook encampment" may refer to one of two different seasonal stays of the Continental Army in central New Jersey near the Middlebrook in Bridgewater Township in Somerset County. They are usually differentiated by either the date of the encamp ...
References
External links
* – River basin
{{authority control
Tributaries of the Raritan River
Rivers of New Jersey
Rivers of Somerset County, New Jersey