Vol. 3 No. 2 Fall 1995
A Newsletter About New Jersey's Water Quality Programs

by Mary Gastrich, Division of Science and Research

The states of New Jersey and New York, in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, are developing a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) to define actions which will protect the habitats, living resources, and water quality of the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary. Estuaries are extremely productive environments where fresh water from rivers meets salt water from the ocean. This high productivity is largely due to the amount of rich silt and organic matter that washes into estuaries from rivers, providing a desirable environment for many types of plants (mostly grasses). While these plants are of little use to humans (for consumption), they create a rich habitat for many types of shellfish and fish.

The NY-NJ Harbor Estuary, which includes the Hudson, Harlem, Hackensack, Passaic, Raritan, Navesink and Shrewsbury rivers and the Atlantic Ocean, is an extraordinary resource - a richly diverse ecosystem that also supports extensive human activity. The waters of the Harbor Estuary and the New York Bight - an area of the Atlantic Ocean approximately 15,000 square miles, including coastal shores and bays - is a recreational resource for millions of people, a habitat for many important plant and animal species, a transportation corridor, and a thriving industrial center. The study area also includes Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Union, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Burlington, Atlantic, and Cape May counties.

Although water quality has improved in recent years, the estuary/bight has endured a history of environmental degradation from sewage and toxic wastes, contaminated sediments, urban runoff, air pollution, and shoreline development. There are still problems that may impair uses of the estuary, and present risks to human health and the ecosystem.

The NY-NJ Harbor Estuary Program (HEP) is a partnership management conference comprising federal, state, and local governments, scientists, environmental and civic groups, businesses, fishing interests, educators, and other grass roots organizations. The goal of the program and the CCMP is to establish and maintain a healthy and productive ecosystem with full beneficial uses.

The CCMP has actions to address seven major problem areas, including loss of habitat and living resources, toxic and pathogen contamination, dredged material management, control of solid and floatable debris and nutrient enrichment, and control of rainfall-induced discharges. In addition, the HEP has an active public involvement and education program. This plan is important to the municipalities, counties and local governments in New Jersey as well as to the many communities which depend upon the Estuary. The plan protects and ensures good water quality and a healthy estuary, which will support the economic value of the waterfront.

If you would like a copy of the HEP CCMP and/or would like to participate in the program, please contact Dr. Mary Downes Gastrich at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection at (609) 292-1895.

State Wins Federal Designation For Barnegat Bay

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved New Jersey's application to have the Barnegat Bay area included in a federal program designed to help preserve important waterways.

Governor Christine Todd Whitman in March petitioned the federal government to include the Barnegat Bay area in the National Estuary Program, which provides federal funds for local estuarine management planning.

With this designation by the EPA, the state could receive up to $1.5 million over three years for development of a comprehensive management plan for the bay area.

"Through the National Estuary Program, we can bring together all concerned parties to cooperatively develop a management plan that addresses the issues critical to the vitality of the estuary," said Robert C. Shinn, Jr., commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The estuary provides important marine and wildlife habitat and supports substantial commercial and recreational claming and boating. It runs from the head of the tide on the Manasquan River, through the Point Pleasant Canal, south through Barnegat Bay, past the Rt. 72 causeway into Little Egg Harbor, and down to the Little Egg Inlet off the southern tip of Long Beach Island. Going east to west, it begins at the Barrier Islands and extends to the western limits of the watershed, including parts of 33 Ocean County municipalities.