Vol. 3 No. 4 Spring 1996
A Newsletter About New Jersey's Water Quality Programs

The report describes the varying conditions of New Jersey's 6,450 miles of rivers, 24,000 acres of public lakes, 900,000 acres of freshwater and tidal wetlands, 120 miles of ocean coastline and 420 square miles of open estuarine waters. It also discusses suspected and known sources of water pollution.

The report shows a clear increase in New Jersey's shellfish harvesting bay and ocean water quality over the past 18 years. However, New Jersey's freshwater quality has been mixed. A number of waterways have shown improvements, due to better controls of point, or fixed, sources of pollution, such as discharges from industrial and municipal treatment plants. By contrast, other fresh water quality has declined, possibly due to nonpoint source pollution, which is waste from widespread activities, such as litter, animal wastes and road salt, that washes into waterways during rain storms. Prepared every two years under Section 305(b) of the Federal Clean Water Act, the report is the eleventh water quality inventory since 1975.

Copies of the report are available for review at 70 locations statewide or at the DEP Library, located at 432 East State Street in Trenton. The library is open weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

The report can also be purchased for $10. To order a copy, write: Maps and Publications, Bureau of Revenue, NJDEP, CN417, Trenton, NJ 08625. Checks should be made payable to "Treasurer, State of New Jersey."

For more information on the report or where it is available for review, contact Kevin Berry of the DEP's Office of Environmental Planning at (609) 633-1179 or write the office at CN423, 401 East State Street, Seventh Floor, Trenton, NJ 08625-0423.