Current Projects

The Bureau of Environmental Analysis, Restoration and Standards is responsible for conducting and coordinating environmental stewardship, water quality analysis and restoration, water quality standards development, water quality management planning and other activities designed to protect, maintain and enhance water quality for all waters of the State in accordance with the federal Clean Water Act, New Jersey Water Pollution Control Act, and New Jersey Water Quality Management Planning Act.

BEARS provides the scientific foundation for restoration and protection of New Jersey’s water resources so that all of the state’s rivers, lakes and coastal waters are fishable, swimmable and support healthy ecosystems and so all of the freshwater resources are clean sources of drinking water.

Budd Lake Aquatic Herbicide and Weed Harvesting

Grantee: Township of Mount Olive

Funding Amount: $365,000

Budd Lake in Mount Olive Township is the headwater of the South Branch of the Raritan River and is the largest natural spring fed glacial lake in New Jersey. The lake encompasses 0.6 square miles, has an average depth of 7 to 12 feet and is surrounded by a bog and the Budd Lake State Wildlife Management Area. Over the past few years Budd Lake has experienced HABs despite an aggressive aquatic weed harvesting and treatment program.

The funded project will be implementing a 3-year program to focus on reducing internal nutrient loading in Budd Lake and to conduct chemical treatment of HABs. Nutrient load reductions will be accomplished through intensification of the existing aquatic weed harvesting and aquatic herbicide application program, and through lake wide treatments of aluminum sulfate. The applicant also proposes to monitor water quality for early signs of HABs and treat them through lake wide application of appropriate additional chemical measures.

Watershed Restoration and Protection Plan for the Spruce Run Watershed

Grantee: New Jersey Water Supply Authority

Funding amount: $80,000

The Raritan Basin Water Supply Complex is comprised of Spruce Run Reservoir, Round Valley Reservoir and the Delaware and Raritan Canal, and provides the basic source of water supply to public and private water utilities for more than 1,500,000 people in central New Jersey. Spruce Run Reservoir, the third largest reservoir in the state, stores 11 billion gallons, and is fed by Mulhockaway Creek and Spruce Run Creek. Spruce Run Reservoir and several of its tributaries have experienced severe HABs in recent years, most notably in the summer of 2019 and the fall of 2018.

Although the Spruce Run Reservoir and its tributaries are attaining total phosphorous criteria, the length and scope of the Reservoir’s blooms indicate that internal and external nutrient loading are contributing to HAB severity. To address reduce nutrient loads contributing to HAB events in Spruce Run, as well as existing bacterial impairments, the New Jersey Water Supply Authority (NJWSA) will develop a watershed restoration and protection plan for three HUC14 subwatersheds that drain to Spruce Run Reservoir—Spruce Run Creek, Willoughby Brook and Rocky Run—and the reservoir itself. These watersheds drain the northern portion of the Spruce Run Reservoir watershed in Hunterdon and Morris Counties and encompass approximately 15.5 square miles of land and 21.2 miles of streams.

Under this grant, NJWSA, their consultant and stakeholders will characterize environmental conditions and the regulatory framework, characterize nonpoint source loading and needed reductions, perform limited field reconnaissance, and identify watershed restoration strategies. The internal total phosphorous load for the Reservoir will be calculated. This information will be compiled into a nine minimum element watershed restoration and protection plan to protect source water quality and reduce the occurrences of HABs in the Reservoir.

Creation of a Lake Protection and Watershed Management Plan for Lake Topanemus

Grantee: Lake Topanemus Park Commission

Funding amount: $96,000

Lake Topanemus is a 21-acre man-made lake in Freehold Township, Monmouth County, where it is a popular destination for fishermen, joggers, and nature enthusiasts. The surrounding area, designated Lake Topanemus Park, is maintained by the Lake Topanemus Park Commission.

Water quality issues including eutrophication, elevated nitrogen and phosphorous levels, sediment accumulation, and dense aquatic macrophyte growth have been documented in Lake Topanemus as early as a 1983 DEP lake management study and confirmed as recently as a 2010 US Army Corps of Engineers assessment and 2018 DEP Watershed Ambassador study.

Additionally, the lake and its watershed both possess a TMDL for total phosphorus and fecal coliform, respectively. This project aims to update the existing characterization study from 1983, as well as identify the steps necessary for future restoration and management. The result of this project will be a Lake Protection and Watershed Management Plan based on USEPA’s nine minimum components of watershed planning, which will guide lake management activities undertaken by the Lake Topanemus Park Commission.

HAB Prevention at Rosedale Lake

Grantee: Mercer County Park Commission

Funding Amount: $185,000

Rosedale Lake in Hopewell Township, Mercer County is owned and managed by Mercer County Park Commission and is located within Mercer Meadows. The lake has an extensive drainage area of currently unfiltered runoff and has experienced some of the highest HAB cell counts in New Jersey over the past few years.

The goal of the funded project is to manage water quality conditions via structural practices to decrease the nutrient concentrations within the lake. This will be accomplished via the installation of an aerator device, barley bales and constructed floating wetlands. These various practices are designed to prevent the introduction of additional nutrients into Rosedale Lake and to reduce internal nutrient loading