Water Quality, Open Space on List of WMA5 Accomplishments

 

By Hugh M. Carola

Improving water quality and supporting open space initiatives are just two impressive accomplishments achieved by the Public Advisory Committees (PAC) of Watershed Management Area 5 (WMA5). The role of the PAC is to advise the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) on issues, goals, priorities, and actions for WMA 5, which includes the Hackensack and Hudson River watersheds.

In each of New Jersey’s 20 Watershed Management Areas, PACs have been meeting regularly over the past three years to develop strategies and procedures to support the state’s efforts to protect water resources. They are open to all individuals and organizations that have an interest or stake in the quality of the aquatic environment within the watershed. Hackensack Riverkeeper is one of the principal partners in WMA5. Here is an update on some of the impressive accomplishments of the past three years:

The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) has successfully applied for funding from the NJDEP’s 319(H) program for nonpoint-source pollution remediation. A major streambank restoration project was undertaken on Van Saun Mill Brook in Paramus. Coupled with Hackensack Riverkeeper’s successful Coles Brook project, the water quality in one of the River’s major tributary systems has been meaningfully improved.

The Open Space Committee is putting the finishing touches on an ambitious project to list and map all of WMA5’s existing open space. The resource will include existing parkland as well as privately owned open space. Upon completion, the data will be made available to municipalities and the Bergen County Trust Fund Advisory Board to assist them in their efforts to secure much-needed parks and natural lands.

The Education and Outreach Committee (EOC) has greatly expanded opportunities for watershed-based education throughout WMA5 by maintaining a presence at such events as Hooked on the Hudson and RiverFest, and by co-sponsoring Hackensack Riverkeeper’s first stormwater seminar back in April. The EOC also publishes The Night Heron, its quarterly newsletter. Plans for a special Mayors’ cruise on the Hudson River are in the works for spring 2004.

What’s made the process particularly successful in WMA5 is excellent support from NJDEP and the AmeriCorps program that has sent us four talented and hard-working Watershed Ambassadors. Christine Hirt, Marianne Butler, Tara Cassella and now Nicholas Vos-Wein (see page 6) have taught thousands of students their watershed address, and explained their rights and responsibilities as watershed citizens.

PAC meetings are open to all interested parties and are conducted monthly in various locations around the watershed. For a meeting schedule or more information, call Nick at Hackensack Riverkeeper (201-968-0808) or WMA5 Coordinator Arnold Vernick at 201-634-2803, or check out the WMA5 Website at http://cimic.rutgers.edu/w5.