Delaware Estuary Program
The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (PDE) is a non-profit organization established in 1996 and based in Wilmington, DE. PDE and partners of DELEP work together to coordinate and implement long-term plans for the Delaware Estuary Focus Area.
Barnegat Bay Partnership
The Barnegat Bay Partnership is a partnership of federal, state, municipal, academic, business, and private organizations working together to help restore, protect, and enhance the natural resources of the Barnegat Bay ecosystem.
Barnegat Bay Restoration
Actions needed to return Barnegat Bay to a nonimpaired (healthy) status, including establishment of a Total Maximum Daily Load. A TMDL is the maximum amount of a pollutant, from all contributing sources, that a waterbody can receive and still remain healthy.
NY/NJ Harbor & Estuary Program
The New York – New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program (HEP) brings the benefits of the Clean Water Act to the people who live, work, and recreate on our shared waterways.
Three National Estuary Programs (NEPs) include New Jersey waters: Delaware, NY/NJ Harbor and Barnegat Bay. Each program is hosted at a non-profit organization that receives annual funding from 18 EPA to host and manage the day to day operations of their NEP. The organizations are The Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (PDE), the Barnegat Bay Partnership (BBP) and the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary Program. Each NEP has a Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) that addresses the water quality, natural resources, and other issues of concern in the estuary and the associated watershed. The CCMPs include specific short- and long-term actions intended to address the identified issues. The DEP is a partner in implementing the CCMP actions, including those that address NPS pollution. In 2018, the NY/NJ Harbor Estuary’s CCMP was updated, https://www.hudsonriver.org/article/core-hep-documents. In 2019, the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary’s CCMP was updated, http://www.delawareestuary.org/our-plan-2/. Currently, the Barnegat Bay Partnership’s CCMP update is in the process of being finalized, https://www.barnegatbaypartnership.org/about-us/ccmp/. The DEP has supported all New Jersey NEPs in a variety of ways related to NPS pollution mitigation, monitoring, and outreach. Activities include, but are not limited to, promoting water pollution research and monitoring efforts, supporting research to establish benchmarks for contaminants of concern, partnering in development and recruitment for citizen scientist wetlands/shoreline monitoring programs, supporting oyster management and shell planting, working collaboratively to improve the management of key species in the Estuary and development of TMDLs for areas listed on the 303(d) list of impaired waterbodies.
Barnegat Bay The DEP is moving science into action within the Barnegat Bay watershed in support of the DEP’s priority of using the best available science to protect New Jersey’s waters. The Barnegat Bay Restoration, Enhancement, and Protection (REP) Strategy is built upon the data, modeling results, and research that emerged from the 2010 Ten Point Plan, also known as Barnegat Bay: Phase One. Please see https://www.nj.gov/dep/barnegatbay/index.htm. The DEP is building upon the accomplishments of Phase One by identifying restoration, enhancement, and protection actions as part of the Phase Two REP Strategy with the continued goal of improving the ecological health of Barnegat Bay and its watershed. The REP Strategy provides four major components: Restoration, Enhancement, Protection and Assessment. Each component includes short-term, mid-term, and long-term objectives and actions.