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.

Update and Expansion of the Musconetcong River Watershed Protection and Restoration Plan

Grantee: Musconetcong Watershed Association

Funding amount: $126,000

The Musconetcong River Watershed is one of the five sub-watershed basins in the Upper Delaware water region and is a major tributary to the Delaware River, comprising 156 square miles and portions of 26 municipalities. The primary objective of this project is to update and expand the “2012 Musconetcong River Restoration and Protection Plan – Hampton to Bloomsbury,” to include four additional HUC14 sub-watersheds.

The 2012 plan recognized twelve areas of implementation projects. Since the approval of the plan, half of these projects have been implemented, including cover crops, green infrastructure, addressing illicit connections, agricultural vegetative buffers, and cattle stream crossings on dairy farms. The 2012 plan has already produced real results, including the case of a targeted tributary in which bacteria levels were reduced by 95% as a result of partnership work with agricultural landowners.

Due to extensive implementation of the 2012 plan, the Musconetcong Watershed Association will update and expand the existing plan to four upstream HUC14’s, which encompass the areas of greatest urbanization and opportunity for additional best management practice (BMP) implementation in the watershed. This plan extension will conform with the criteria for USEPA nine element watershed management plans.

When implemented, this plan expansion will guide efforts to reduce fecal coliform loading pursuant to the Musconetcong River watershed’s fecal coliform TMDL, improve benthic macroinvertebrate communities, and address pH impairments. The scope of work includes targeted sampling and technical studies to determine pollutant sources, modeling to determine overall reductions from proposed BMPs, and an education and outreach program targeting key stakeholders.

Upper Paulins Kill Headwaters Lakes Initiative

Grantee: Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority

Funding amount: $190,000

In 2012, the Sussex County Municipal Utilities Authority (SCMUA) finalized the development of a DEP-approved Watershed Restoration and Protection Plan for the Upper Paulins Kill Watershed. Over the course of the past eight years, SCMUA has worked to successfully leverage DEP 319(h) funding to implement components of this plan, including the establishment of the SCMUA’s stormwater management program and the installation of high-visibility green infrastructure projects throughout Newton and Hampton Townships.

The success of these projects led to an infusion of funding from the William Penn Foundation and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as part of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative (DRWI) that helped the SCMUA establish its “Paulins Kill Lakes Initiative” focus area and obtain funding to construct additional green infrastructure demonstration projects at Culver, Kemah, and Crandon Lakes. SCMUA will use this grant to build upon the momentum of these past projects.

This grant is composed of three work areas: the Upper Paulins Kill Lakes Community Rain Garden Assistance Program; a floating wetland islands pilot program; and an emerald ash borer tree canopy replacement and resiliency program. The rain garden assistance program will incentivize green infrastructure adoption in Paulins Kill watershed lake communities, which will combat nonpoint source pollutant loading and aid in HAB prevention.

This program will be carried out in partnership with the Rutgers Cooperative Extension, which has years of experience in residential rain garden installation. Floating wetland islands will also be installed in Kemah Lake, Culvers Lake, and Lake Owassa in the Paulins Kill River watershed; these floating vegetation communities will filter and assimilate nonpoint source pollutants from the waters of these three lakes.

Finally, the emerald ash borer tree canopy replacement program will work with interested Paulins Kill watershed residents to replace ash trees killed by the invasive emerald ash borer. This program will increase native tree diversity within the lakeshed canopy while replacing, in part, the water filtration services provided by ash trees lost in this watershed.

HAB Prevention: Green Infrastructure Improvements and Stormwater Control at the Lee’s Marina County Park

Grantee: Morris County Park Commission

Funding amount: $495,000

In the summer of 2019, Lake Hopatcong experienced a severe, long-lasting HAB which was likely facilitated by elevated concentrations of total phosphorous, the primary limiting nutrient for freshwater cyanobacteria. The prevention of future HABs depends on the reduction of total phosphorous inputs to Lake Hopatcong.To this end, Morris County Park Commission (MCPC) will install several major green infrastructure features at Lee’s County Park Marina on the shores of Lake Hopatcong in Mount Arlington Township.

In the marina’s current condition, stormwater from surrounding roadways drains across the marina and enters Lake Hopatcong untreated. MCPC will install curb cuts and grading improvements to direct stormwater runoff to five bioretention basins, where phosphorous as well as nitrogen, total suspended solids, and other pollutants can be filtered.

Additionally, eight stormwater inlets to Lake Hopatcong will be retrofitted with manufactured treatment devices for removal of nutrients and sediments.

These green infrastructure installations will improve existing surface water quality impairments, decrease the volume of runoff discharged from the marina and surrounding roadways to Lake Hopatcong, and reduce the associated pollutant loads of phosphorus, total suspended solids,

Crops, Dairy and Livestock: On-Farm Strategies to Protect Water Quality

Recognizing that agricultural BMPs provide immense water quality benefits but may be cost-prohibitive for individual farmers to implement, North Jersey Resource Conservation & Development Council (NJRCD) will use DEP Water Quality Restoration Grant funding to implement agricultural BMPs on farms across Hunterdon, Sussex, and Warren Counties. DEP funds will be leveraged with funding from USDA cost share programs, which provide additional financial support to participating agricultural landowners for BMP implementation.

NJRCD has identified four cattle and dairy operations where the implementation of livestock management practices will substantially reduce impacts to water quality. Farmer commitment letters and enrollment in a USDA cost share program have already been confirmed for all four projects, and all four sites are located in watersheds with an EPA-approved watershed management plan. Each project includes multiple BMPs, including manure management and storage improvements, livestock stream crossings and exclusions, riparian buffer restorations, and various barnyard runoff controls.

Additionally, NJRCD will subsidize landowner participation in no-till agriculture and cover cropping, continuing a successful program initiated under previous Water Quality Restoration grants. NJRCD has identified “priority watersheds” within the Upper Delaware water region where the highest water quality benefits can be obtained with the available funds. Within these priority watersheds, NJRCD estimates that proposed educational programs and BMP implementation incentives will stimulate long-term agricultural management improvement and annually reduce total suspended solids and phosphorous loading by at least 500 tons and 10,000 pounds, respectively.

Data to Action: Tracking Sources of Bacteria in the Musconetcong Watershed to Guide Water Quality Restoration and Protection Actions

Grantee: Montclair University

Funding amount: $353,000

Located in northwest New Jersey, the Musconetcong River watershed is 156 square miles in size, mostly comprised of agricultural, forest, wetland and water land cover, and is located in the Upper Delaware water region. While the Musconetcong River possesses exceptional ecological and cultural value—for example, 24 miles belong o the National Park Service’s National Wild and Scenic River System—the Musconetcong River is subject to a TMDL for fecal coliform, which requires a 93% reduction in nonpoint source fecal coliform loads.In 2018, Montclair University partnered with the Musconetcong Watershed Association and North Jersey Resource Conservation & Development Council to assess reductions of fecal coliform levels in the lower portion of the TMDL area following ten years of BMP implementation.

The results of this study indicated a significant reduction of fecal coliform in the lower TMDL area compared to 2007 levels. This study also used microbial source tracking to identify specific sources of the remaining fecal contamination, revealing the majority of remaining contamination to be of human origin, with secondary contributions from cows and wildlife. The results of that study are now informing source reduction and BMP implementation in the affected subwatersheds.The 2018 study only focused on the lower portion of the TMDL area.

This project will implement a similar study in the upper portion of the Musconetcong River’s TMDL area to assess source reduction progress, identify remaining contaminant sources, and tailor future BMP implementations to those sources. Montclair University will use existing relationships with practitioners in the Musconetcong River watershed to disseminate project results and develop water quality restoration and protection actions. The ultimate goal of this project is to pursue de-listing this section of the Musconetcong River from the 303(d) list.

Implementation and Evaluation of Several Innovative In-Lake Management Techniques to Prevent, Mitigate and Control HABs in Lake Mohawk, Sussex County

Grantee: Lake Mohawk Preservation Foundation

Funding Amount: $160,920

Lake Mohawk is a large, eutrophic water body located in Sparta Township, Sussex County that frequently experiences nuisance densities of cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). Approximately 2,700 families live in the Lake Mohawk community. The Lake Mohawk Preservation Foundation (the Foundation) and the Lake Mohawk Country Club (LMCC) have been very proactive over the last three decades in improving and protecting the water resources of Lake Mohawk, which is an important and substantial headwater system for the Wallkill River.

The Foundation and the LMCC are seeking funds to implement and evaluate alternative and innovative management measures to control and prevent the development of HABs without the use of copper-based algaecides. The project will be implementing innovative, in-lake measures to address HABs and move away from the use of copper-based algaecides over a 2-year period. These measures include the use of the non-copper algaecide GreenClean and the application of the phosphorus inactivator PhosLock to control HABs. Each measure will be objectively evaluated through detailed water quality monitoring to determine its cost effectiveness

Swartswood Lake Aeration System Investigation and Upgrade

Grantee: Swartswood Lakes and Watershed Association

Funding amount: $270,000

Swartswood Lakes and Watershed Association (SLWA) is a 501(c)(3) organization that was created to protect and restore Swartswood Lake and Little Swartswood Lake, and works in cooperation with Swartswood State Park, NJDEP and other stakeholders to protect the resources of the Swartswood Lakes and their watershed. The Swartswood Lakes themselves are a regionally important summer tourism location that experienced two short-lived HABs in the summer of 2019.

A key component of SLWA’s lake management strategy is the maintenance of an aeration system. This system helps to maintain proper dissolved oxygen levels during the summer months, prevents water from stagnating, discourages nuisance algae growth, and helps to maintain proper water chemistry for the breakdown and consumption of nutrients by microorganisms. Aeration is also shown to discourage

conditions conducive to HAB formation. The aeration system currently in place in Swartswood Lake is 27 years old.

This grant will fund the inspection of Swartswood Lake’s existing aeration system, supplemental water sampling to assess the performance of the current system, and the execution of necessary repairs to or replacement of the existing system. This grant will be implemented in conjunction with a second SLWA grant for the development of a lake protection and watershed management plan for Swartswood Lake.

Swartswood Lakes Nonpoint Source Watershed Management Plan

Grantee: Swartswood Lakes and Watershed Association

Funding amount: $40,000

Swartswood Lakes and Watershed Association (SLWA) is a 501(c)(3) organization that was created to protect and restore Swartswood Lake and Little Swartswood Lake, and works in cooperation with Swartswood State Park, NJDEP and other stakeholders to protect the resources of the Swartswood Lakes and their watershed. The Swartswood Lakes themselves are a regionally important summer tourism location.

Substantial water quality restoration work was performed in Swartswood Lake between the 1980’s and 2007 to address nuisance plant growth and algae blooms, reduced dissolved oxygen, loss of water clarity, and fishery deterioration; these deteriorations in lake water quality were a major detriment to the public, as the Swartswood Lakes are the central component of the popular Swartswood State Park system. Since 2017, recurrent HABs have presented a new threat to the water quality of the Swartswood Lakes and spurred SLWA to consider additional planning and lake management measures.

This project will use available information and data, as well as new water quality sampling, to develop a watershed restoration and protection plan for the Swartswood Lakes that includes the nine minimum components required by the EPA. The plan will identify pollutant sources and provide recommendations to reduce pollutant loading from sources both external and internal, and serve as the blueprint for future restoration activities in the Swartswood Lake

Update and Quantify the Internal Phosphorus Load and Implement Four Projects to Reduce Phosphorus in Lake Hopatcon

Grantee: Lake Hopatcong Commission

Funding amount: $206,000

In the summer of 2019, Lake Hopatcong experienced severe, long-lasting HABs that negatively affected the lake’s ecology, recreational uses, and surrounding local economies. In contrast to some large, deep lakes in the State where HABs lasted only a few weeks, in Lake Hopatcong they persisted well into October.

While external nutrient loading from stormwater runoff is an important contributing factor to HABs, the durability of the 2019 Lake Hopatcong HABs suggests that internal nutrient loading, particularly of phosphorous, may play a significant role in HAB onset and duration. Lake Hopatcong’s internal total phosphorous loading was last quantified in 1983.

To better understand the role of internal nutrient loading in HAB events, the Lake Hopatcong Commission will conduct a refined quantification of Lake Hopatcong’s internal phosphorus load using a combination of existing water quality data, additional water quality sampling, and modeling. The results of this assessment will be used to determine if steps should be taken to reduce the internal phosphorous load through in-lake management efforts, and if such efforts would be cost effective.

Lake Hopatcong Commission will also implement nonpoint source pollution reduction projects in the Lake Hopatcong watershed, including the installation of floating wetland islands, shoreline stabilization with native plants, the replanting of stormwater basins, and maintenance of existing Filterra boxes to optimize stormwater filtration.

The Evaluation of Innovative Measures to Prevent, Mitigate and/or Control HABs in Lake Hopatcong

Grantee: Lake Hopatcong Commission

Funding Amount: $500,000

Lake Hopatcong experienced unprecedented cyanobacteria HABs over most of the summer season from mid-June well into October in 2019. These HABs resulted in the posting of advisories over large sections of the lake and the closing of all beaches. These conditions resulted in substantial impacts on the ecological, recreational, and economic resources of the lake and region.

The Lake Hopatcong Commission is implementing a variety of innovative HAB management measures, including habitat modifications, nutrient reduction, and/or direct HAB treatment. Projects have been identified within two counties and four municipalities throughout the Lake Hopatcong Watershed.

The overall project goal is to implement these projects and objectively evaluate the relative effectiveness through water quality monitoring. Project objectives include evaluating various filtering media in two Aqua-Filter stormwater basins, three types of aeration, the nutrient inactivator PhosLock, the non-copper algaecide GreenClean, the use of Biochar to remove phosphorus from nearshore waters, and the consideration/installation of rain gardens.

Lake Hopatcong Crescent Cove Aeration

Grantee: Borough of Hopatcong

Funding Amount: $145,680

Lake Hopatcong experienced excessive HAB in Crescent Cove during the 2019 summer season. The core objective of this project is to prevent, control and minimize HABs within Crescent Cove using aeration. The funded project will demonstrate the effectiveness of bottom-diffused aeration targeting the entirety of Lake Hopatcong’s Crescent Cove. The project consists of the design and installation of a lake-bottom Diffused Aeration System starting at the River Styx Bridge and covering the entire 60-acre area known as Crescent Cove.