1-5 



The harbor channel, which varies in width from 400 ft to 800 

 ft and is 35-ft deep at mean low water, follows the eastern shore of the 

 estuary where the naturally deepest water occurs. A large shoal area 

 that is exposed or barely covered at low tide is located between Sandy 

 Point and City Point on the west side of the harbor. The only shoal 

 areas along the east side of the harbor are located southwest of the New 

 Haven Harbor Station site, between the site and the harbor channel. 



North of the Tomlinson Bridge, the harbor channel continues up 

 the Quinnipiac River as far as Grand Avenue in a 200-ft wide by 16-ft 

 deep section and up the Mill River in a channel that is 200-ft wide and 

 12-ft deep to the confluence of the East and West forks of the Mill River. 

 Opposite the Harbor Station site, a 100-ft wide by 12-ft deep navigation 

 channel diverges from the main harbor channel and proceeds up the West 

 River to the Kimberly Avenue Bridge and thence 600 ft upstream in a 

 section which is 75-ft wide by 9-ft deep. 



Freshwater is fed into the harbor by the Quinnipiac, Mill and 

 West Rivers which drain 164, 40 and 37 square miles, respectively. The 

 mean annual runoff entering the estuary from these rivers is about 435 

 cfs, and the minimum annual runoff about 215 cfs. 



Two tide gauges were maintained in New Haven Harbor by The 

 National Oceanic Survey (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Admini- 

 stration) : one at Southwest Ledge Light, which is located at the eastern 

 edge of the harbor entrance channel, and one within the harbor at Long 

 Wharf. The mean tidal range is 6.2 ft at the harbor entrance and 6.3 ft 

 within the harbor. The minimum tidal range is about 4.9 ft. 



The tidal prism (water entering and leaving the harbor meas- 



9 

 ured from mean low water to mean high water) is about 1.9 x 10 cu ft. 



9 

 The volume of the harbor is about 4.4 x 10 cu ft at mean sea level. 



Consequently, the volume of water entering the harbor over the approxi- 

 mate six-hour period from mean low water to mean high water or the 

 volume leaving over the six-hour period from mean high water to mean low 

 water is equivalent to 43 percent of the harbor volume at mean sea 



