Vol. 5 No. 1 Summer 1997
A Newsletter About New Jersey's Water Quality Programs

Environmental Indicators Chart Progress Toward Water Quality Goals by Karen Schaffer, Division of Science and Research

An initial self-assessment of New Jersey's water programs in 1995 focused on freshwater watersheds and ground water. This assessment was expanded to include tidal waters and, in response to stakeholder comments, surface and ground water quantity issues. Key water issues include:

• Nutrient enrichment in surface and ground water leads to eutrophic conditions in lakes and estuaries and diminishes potable uses of water.
• Pathogens in surface and ground water limit swimming, shellfish harvest, and potable use.
• Toxics (metals and organics) in surface and ground water, sediments and biota limit safe consumption of fish and affect dredging and potable water supplies.
• Wetlands losses and habitat alterations impair ecological health, water quality, and contribute to floods.
• Overuse of surface and ground water leads to deficits for potable, agricultural, and industrial uses, and may damage aquatic health.

Goal-Oriented Activities and Indicators of Progress

To address these key water issues, DEP has committed to implementing watershed management, applying NEPPS concepts on a watershed management area basis. As watershed management is implemented, focused assessments of water quality and quantity issues will be conducted, environmental goals will be established, and goal-oriented activities will be implemented in each of the state's 20 watershed management areas. This process, which began with the Delaware and New York/New Jersey Harbor Estuary Programs and Whippany River Watershed Pilot Project, is being expanded to include Barnegat Bay, and the Passaic and Cooper River Watershed Management Areas.

By the year 2005, DEP hopes to realize a 15% improvement in the health of river and stream ecosystems from watershed management initiatives. Progress toward this milestone will be tracked by measuring status and trends in ambient conditions, the potential causes of those conditions, and responses by agencies, the regulated community, and citizens. This approach, called the cause, condition, response model, will increase our understanding of the relationships between the causes of environmental problems and the effectiveness of management measures.

Indicators of ambient water conditions include:
• aquatic ecosystem health using benthic macroinvertebrate monitoring (insects and crustacea)
• status trends of chemical water and sediment quality parameters
• fish tissue concentrations of toxics
• status and trends of stream flow

Indicators of  potential causes of these conditions include:

• status and trends of point source loads of pollutants
• status of nonpoint source loads, approximated using land use
• status of water withdrawals for potable, agricultural, industrial, and commercial uses

Indicators of agency, regulated community, and citizen responses include:

• status of watershed management implementation
• status of infrastructure investment to improve water quality
• status of compliance with permit limits
• status of drought advisory issuance

These and other indicators will be reported every two years, beginning in 1997. By tracking these indicators, and evaluating program performance in environmental terms, the DEP hopes to build upon past environmental improvements.

Additional Information

Additional information on NEPPS, including the Self-Assessment and Performance Partnership Agreements, can be obtained from DEP's Division of Science and Research at (609) 984-6071. These documents are also available electronically on the DEP homepage at www.dep.state.nj.us/dep/dsr.