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New Jersey
Navesink River Shellfish Beds Upgraded
On January 1, 1997, the Navesink River was approved for unrestricted
shellfish harvesting for the first time in 25 years. Water quality in the
Navesink River has improved significantly as a result of a major interagency
initiative involving federal, state, and county governments, private
institutions (representing the environment, health, and agriculture), and the
general public. The Navesink flows through Monmouth County, New Jersey, near
the Atlantic coast.
Success through partnership
The primary goal of this initiative, which has been underway for several years
in the Navesink River watershed, is to reduce nonpoint sources of pollution
sufficiently to reopen the river to unrestricted shellfish harvesting.
Harvesting in the Navesink has been restricted since 1971.
A comprehensive, coordinated management plan was implemented in 1987 to
reduce bacterial loadings to the estuary and restore recreational and
commercial shellfish harvesting. At that time, a Memorandum Of Understanding
was signed by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP),
the New Jersey Department of Agriculture, U.S. EPA, and the USDA Natural
Resource Conservation Service. It was also endorsed by 12 county, municipal,
academic, and private organizations. The agreement formalized each one's
commitment to the Navesink River Watershed Management Program and its goals.
The water quality improvements in the Navesink are a direct result of
successful nonpoint source pollution controls implemented by these partnerships
over many years.
A total of nearly 4,800 acres were upgraded in the shellfish
reclassification as a result of improvement in overall water quality, bringing
the total harvesting acreage to over 580,000.
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In the 1980s, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's
Environment Planning Program initiated the Navesink nonpoint source study,
which included intensive watershed/land-use analysis, inventory and compliance
assessment of point source permits, evaluation of potential nonpoint sources
and monitoring of the estuary and its tributaries. Sources of contamination
were subsequently attributed to a combination of stormwater runoff associated
with residential development, agricultural waste, and marina/boat associated
pollutants.
Over the last 10 years the NJDEP (Land Use Regulation, Shellfisheries and
Marine Water Classification and Analysis programs) successfully carried out a
joint project review strategy to "red-flag" coastal development applications
(Coastal Area Facilities Review Act and Waterfront Development permits) for
individual docks, marinas, and multiunit development projects in the Navesink
watershed. Proposed projects considered for approval were scrutinized to assure
that nonpoint source best management practices (BMPs) were incorporated in the
design plan. The NJDEP also designated the Navesink a "Special Water Area" in
the Rules on Coastal Zone Management (N.J.A.C. 7:7E-3.1), which provides an
additional measure of protection.
Innovative measures
Many innovative measures were implemented to control nonpoint source pollution
in the Navesink watershed:
- Construction of a manure composting facility with federal and county funds
to reduce animal waste runoff. Manure is removed from the waste stream through
composting.
- Comprehensive stormwater controls as part of coastal permits. Project
applications in the coastal zone portion of the Navesink watershed were not
approved for permits unless adequate stormwater management controls were part
of the plan.
- Putting in place berms and concrete pads to redirect manure and
contaminated runoff away from tributaries that drain to the Navesink.
- Initiation of a citizen monitoring program.
- Formation of the Navesink Municipalities Association and the Navesink
Environmental League, which meet monthly to represent local government and
citizen stakeholder interests in the watershed.
- State and federal funding for public education on ways to reduce nonpoint
source pollution in the watershed, including hiring a public outreach
coordinator; completing a 30-minute film documentary, Navesink the Restoration
of a River, that aired periodically on PBS television; a quarterly newsletter,
Navesink News; and a Navesink watershed worldwide Web page on the Internet.
- State funding for a free public boat pumpout facility, which led the way to
other pumpout facilities and a pending application to EPA for a "No Discharge
Zone" in the Navesink River.
- Development of subwatershed approach to environmental planning, monitoring,
and implementation of BMPs.
There was an upgrade in classification for 623 acres of waters east of the
Oceanic Bridge that allowed shellfish to be harvested every year from November
through April without need for purification. A total of nearly 4,800 acres were
upgraded in the shellfish reclassification as a result of improvement in
overall water quality, bringing the total harvesting acreage to over 580,000.
CONTACT: Bob Scro
Office of Environmental Planning New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection
(609) 633-2003 |
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