Metedeconk River

40°03′08″N 74°05′13″W / 40.05222°N 74.08694°W / 40.05222; -74.08694

The Metedeconk River /məˈtiːdəkʌŋk/ is a tributary of Barnegat Bay in Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States.

The Metedeconk River flows from its 22.3-mile-long (35.9 km) North and 22.6-mile-long (36.4 km) South Branches to their confluence at Forge Pond, where the river widens (up to just over 1 mile (1.6 km)) and flows southeast for 6 miles (9.7 km) into Barnegat Bay. It contains both fresh and salt-water portions.

Like many area streets, waterways and towns, Metedeconk is the original word or phrase used by the Indigenous Peoples to name themselves or to name themselves after their geography. Its name a direct reference to the Metedeconk Tribes who had two settlements, one on the North Side of the river bordering the Beaver-dam Creek in the region now called CedarCroft, and one on the south side.

At its most eastern face the river meets the Barnegat Peninsula, a populated but narrow strip (less than 1 mile (1.6 km) wide) of New Jersey separating the Metedeconk from a direct connection with the Atlantic Ocean. Here, the river joins the Barnegat Bay to the south and the narrow, man-made Point Pleasant Canal to the north. This canal provides a convenient connection to the Manasquan River, which would otherwise be completely separated from the Metedeconk by about 3 miles (4.8 km) of land. The Manasquan River is directly connected to the Atlantic Ocean, as is Barnegat Bay.

The river is of the floodplain type and is tidal, being indirectly connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the Barnegat Bay and the Manasquan River. The Metedeconk's main oceanic interactions are through the Manasquan, via the Point Pleasant Canal. In fact, before the canal was opened in 1926, the Metedeconk and the upper part of the Barnegat Bay were mainly fresh water environments and non-tidal. Today, due to ocean tides, the waters of the Bay and the Manasquan are both inlets and outlets of the Metedeconk.

Since the canal, the waters of the lower Metedeconk have been brackish to salty and the ecology of the area has changed considerably. A visual indication of the river's connection to the ocean is the cream to brown colored foam that sometimes collects where the Metedeconk's waves beat the sandy shores or manmade bulkheads. This foam consists of the microscopic organic material that naturally builds up in the presence of aquatic life; the process of filtering organics from water through wave-like action has been mechanized in most aquariums and is known there as foam fractionating.

As of October 29, 2012, due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy hitting New Jersey, an inlet opened between Barnegat Bay and the Atlantic Ocean at the river's east end, the storm having obliterated the dunes, roads, and houses that once blocked off the river from the ocean. Thus the Metedeconk technically opened to the Atlantic Ocean at the base of the Route 528 bridge, whose east end was washed away by the storm, until repairs could be attempted to the peninsula and the bridge. By February 2013, peninsula and bridge repair had effectively reclosed the inlet and reopened the bridge to limited traffic.