Ringwood partners with private lakes to address, test water quality, algae blooms

RINGWOOD — A partnership among four private lake associations and their local government, the first of its kind in New Jersey, will address growing concerns over water quality management on a regional scale.

The borough-led partnership will use nearly $92,000 in grant funding from the Highlands Council to pay for a comprehensive study of the 28-square-mile town’s watersheds. The initiative, which could affect future capital improvement strategies in Borough Hall, will start with testing local lakes and the streams that feed them, said Scott Heck, borough manager.

“We’re starting at the source, not just at the receiving end,” Heck said at a recent council meeting. "This is a borough of Ringwood water management plan that also tests the lakes.”

Divided in half by a massive reservoir and an even larger state park, Ringwood has a large chunk of residents who live in four private lake communities with corresponding associations to manage them: Lake Riconda, Skyline Lakes, Cupsaw Lake and Erskine Lakes.

All four lakes were created by the former Ringwood Company, an iron mining conglomerate turned real estate company. Marketed to hunters and fishermen in the 1920s and '30s, the neighborhoods now draw homeowners with community activities, private beach clubs and other amenities.

For six weeks starting in August 2018, however, Cupsaw Lake’s beach was closed by borough officials after state officials confirmed the presence of a harmful algal bloom.

Officials from the private association subsequently sought borough support for a grant for lake management planning from the Highlands Council. Borough officials then decided to expand the effort to include all watershed areas and lake communities in town. The idea was to take a more active role in water resource management as a borough, Heck said.

“We're really looking at it from a more global perspective,” he said.

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The four private lake associations have agreed to provide access for the study, which will be developed and led by Princeton Hydro. The Highlands Council’s grant will cover Princeton Hydro’s $87,100 bill and the town’s nearly $5,000 in program expenses, Heck said.

Princeton Hydro, based in Ringoes, is an environmental consulting firm that works with dozens of area communities and lake management groups, including those for Greenwood Lake and Lake Hopatcong. Those lakes have been suffering this year from harmful algal blooms caused by cyanobacteria that have resulted in state-issued no-swimming advisories.

Christopher Mikolajczyk, Princeton Hydro’s senior project manager and the project’s lead designer, said the water quality management partnership adopted by borough and lake associations officials is rare.

“This regional approach to lake and watershed management is a no-brainer from a scientific, technical and community point of view,” Mikolajczyk said.

The borough-led effort started with an investigation into Highlands Council grant funding for Cupsaw Lake, which is undergoing self-funded aeration and herbicide programs. Expanding the effort borough-wide allows officials to identify and consider possible capital projects to enhance water quality throughout the community, Heck said.

Princeton Hydro officials said they plan to assess the town’s lakes and streams for issues that can lead to nutrient loading, oxygen depletion and algae growth. In their report, they will also examine potential solutions, estimated costs and timelines for management efforts.