The concept of a "watershed" approach to natural resource management and environmental decision making has been increasingly adopted by planners and officials over the past decade. Broadly defined, a watershed or drainage basin is an area of land that drains to a specific body of water, be it a stream, lake, bay or ocean. By thinking in terms of a watershed rather than political boundries or homogeneous landscape units, we are better able to link cause and effect and inputs and outputs, as well as conceptualize a study area as an integrated system.

The central tenet of watershed management is the supreme importance of clean water. This applies not only to streams and lakes but also to water below ground, particularly the vast aquifers that provide us with much of the water we rely on and consume each day. Streams, rivers, lakes and other natural and man-made impoundments provide water for municipalities, agriculture, and industry, not to mention critical habitat for a vast array of animal and plant species as well as a source of recreation, beauty, and wonder.

Even within a watershed as seemingly rural and pristine as the Mullica River basin, a wide range of activities and contaminants threaten the system’’s waters if not managed properly. Progress has been made statewide in eliminating point sources of pollution. However, the means by which pollutants are most commonly introduced to the Watershed's waters is not through discharge pipes, but by the discharge of groundwater containing substances like lawn and agricultural chemicals or nutrients from septic systems. The high permeability of the sandy soils in the Mullica Watershed facilitate the movement of groundwater. Another potential source of contamination is stormwater runoff. After a rainfall event, particularly a severe downpour, large amounts of water run directly into the area’’s streams, carrying with them pollutants that have accumulated on agricultural lands, roadways, or other surfaces. The situation is exacerbated by impervious surfaces like parking lots that prevent any water from infiltrating the soil. Adding to the problem are the increased soil and sediment loads deposited into streams by the scouring action of heavier surface runoff volumes.

The Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan provides for the protection of a large portion of this watershed. However, the introduction of pollutants poses a constant threat to this protection. Clearly an ongoing effort is required to continue to guard the waters of the Mullica River Watershed from the harmful impacts of such "nonpoint source" pollution. The rewards of doing so are great and the consequences of failing to do so severe.

The Mullica Watershed is one of 20 watersheds delineated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and one of the largest in the state. Also known as Watershed Management Area #14, the Mullica Watershed comprises some 569 square miles or 8% of the entire state of New Jersey. The Watershed includes large tracts of the most environmentally sensitive portion of the New Jersey Pinelands, a region with ecology of internationally recognized significance. The Watershed sprawls across parts of Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, and Ocean counties, and encompasses land uses ranging from century old agricultural techniques to bustling commercial and residential centers. 24 municipalities are partially or entirely located within the Mullica Watershed.