New Jersey DEP awards grants to fight algae blooms, pollution
TRENTON - The state Department of Environmental Protection has awarded $3.5 million in grants to reduce the impacts of nonpoint source pollution on waterways, including $1 million for the development of lake and watershed restoration plans to mitigate harmful algal blooms (HAB), Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe announced on Monday.
In Central Jersey, the grants have been awarded to:
•New Jersey Water Supply Authority, $80,000, to develop a watershed restoration and protection plan for three sub-watersheds that drain to Spruce Run Reservoir – Spruce Run Creek, Willoughby Brook and Rocky Run – and the reservoir itself to address and reduce nutrient loads contributing to HAB events in Spruce Run, as well as existing bacterial impairments.
•Raritan Headwaters Association, $49,000, to develop a watershed restoration and protection plan for Budd Lake and its watershed that addresses nutrient inputs and pathogen loadings that contribute to HABs.
•Musconetcong Watershed Association, $126,000, to update and expand the 2012 Musconetcong River Restoration and Protection Plan – Hampton to Bloomsbury, to include four additional U.S. Geological Survey sub-watersheds. When implemented, this plan expansion will guide efforts to reduce fecal coliform pollution, improve benthic macroinvertebrate communities, and address pH impairments.
•Rutgers University, $170,000, to develop Watershed Restoration and Protection Plans for the Miry Run and Doctors Creek watersheds in Mercer County.
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•North Jersey Resource Conservation & Development Council, $740,000, to implement agricultural best management practices on farms in Hunterdon, Sussex, and Warren counties. The organization estimates that proposed educational programs and best management planning 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.
“Improving the health of the state’s waterways and lakes, including those impacted by harmful algal blooms, is vital to protecting public health and enhancing recreational opportunities that are important to local economies,” McCabe said. “Protecting against nonpoint source pollution and harmful algal blooms are issues affecting every state in the country and we are very pleased to partner with these communities through these grants to protect New Jersey’s water and public health."
The DEP recently implemented a color-coded Harmful Algal Bloom alert index to provide public guidance for recreational uses of lakes impacted by these blooms. The DEP is also implementing an enhanced Harmful Algal Bloom Response Strategy that includes an interactive mapping tool that allows the public to report blooms and view detailed data on blooms.
The Swim Area at Spruce Run Reservoir is closed for the season because of HAB.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.