Issue #15 

Spring 2007

 

The Basin Bulletin

 

Newsletter for Stakeholders of the Raritan River Basin

Prepared on behalf of the Raritan Basin Watershed Alliance

The Raritan Plan:  Four Years After

The Raritan Basin Watershed Management Plan was released to the public in early 2003 after a nearly four year development process involving hundreds of stakeholders and a project team, all led by the NJ Water Supply Authority (NJWSA).  The Raritan Plan was completed just after the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, which co-funded the plan with NJWSA, modified its approach to focus on subwatershed restoration and stormwater plans rather than large-scale watershed management area plans.  The Raritan Plan was one of a few large-scale plans that actually were finished prior to the shift in focus, and helped focus future efforts on critical issues and areas. 

The Raritan Plan includes goals, objectives and strategies at the basin and watershed management area level to address six priority issues identified in the nine related technical reports.  Both the full plan and the technical reports are available at www.raritanbasin.org.  Four years later, what is the status of Raritan Plan implementation?  It is fair to say that the Raritan Plan has influenced ongoing work in the Raritan River Basin.  The Raritan Basin Watershed Alliance was formed in 2003 to pursue implementation of the Raritan Plan through voluntary efforts.  We will be presenting a series of articles in the Basin Bulletin, focusing on the six priority issues and recent efforts to address them.  This article discusses the six key issues and the resulting stakeholder vision for the basin.

The Six Key Issues

Six major issues (along with many other lower priority issues) were identified through the characterization and assessment process.  As discussed in the Raritan Plan:

  •         “Surface Water Pollution -- The Raritan Basin has surface water pollution problems, especially high levels of phosphorus and fecal coliform bacteria.  Nonpoint sources are the sole cause in approximately one-third of the Basin, and are joined by point sources in the remaining watersheds.  Management measures can be initiated now based on the characterization and assessment results and local knowledge.  

  •        “Loss of Riparian Areas – Riparian areas historically covered roughly one third of the Raritan Basin, and nearly one third of riparian areas have been lost as of 1995.  Losses within specific subwatersheds range to more than 80 percent.  While most riparian losses were initially to agriculture, most recent losses are to development. 

  •         “Biological Impairment of Streams – Based on NJDEP’s basin-wide work, the number of severely and moderately impaired streams increased from 1993 to 1998, though some streams improved.

  •        “Loss of Ground Water Recharge – The Raritan Project assessed ground water recharge rates in 1986 and 1995.  The assessment results were startling – one of the biggest surprises in the project.  Two subwatersheds showed estimated losses of over 20 percent in just 10 years, and many others showed losses between 15 and 20 percent.  These losses can harm stream flows and aquifer stability. 

  •         “Water Supply Limitations – The NJ Water Supply Authority has a safe yield of 225 million gallons per day using surface water supplies.  Ground water supplies are spread out, hard to measure and extremely variable from area to area.  Perhaps 85 to 135 million gallons per day are available.  Population density increases in rural and suburban areas are a water supply concern, as these areas are usually dependant on ground water.

  •         “Stormwater Impacts – Most of the urban land that we will have in 2010 already exists.  Some historic urban areas have essentially no stormwater controls.  Since the 1970’s stormwater controls have gradually improved to control stormwater quality and discharge rates from new development sites.  However, retrofit of older systems rarely occurs and even well built systems are typically not maintained properly.  Finally, we rarely manage stormwater on a watershed basis.  Unfortunately, uncoordinated site-specific controls don’t provide sufficient environmental protection in most cases.  One of the major impacts of urbanization on streams is disrupted stream hydrology.” 

The Raritan Plan includes a vision statement that encompasses the major concerns and needs of the stakeholders involved in the process.  The stakeholders developed it after completion of the characterization reports, when enough was known about the Raritan River Basin to allow formulation of a common vision.

Text Box: Vision Statement for the Raritan River Basin The Raritan Plan envisions a Raritan River Basin in which the following occurs as quickly as possible but no later than within a generation: n Overcoming the Past: The impacts of existing and former land and water uses and pollutant discharges are remedied so that water quality, water supplies, flood plains, aquatic habitats and, indeed, the total capacity of Raritan River Basin as a water resource are restored to health. n Managing the Future: Future land uses, pollutant discharges and water uses are carefully managed and remain within the long-term sustainable resource levels. Land uses and people are not placed at risk from flooding and other natural disasters. Land preservation efforts protect the vital water resources of the Raritan River Basin. n Taking Responsibility: All individuals living and working in the Raritan River Basin understand and take responsibility for the impacts of their actions on the Raritan River Basin, and for being part of the solution. n Maintaining Vigilance: Decision makers in the public, private and non-profit sectors learn from the past, anticipate the future, understand the dynamics of our complex region, and act in concert to protect the vital natural resources of the Raritan River Basin.

A Plan for Action, and Action on the Plan

Since completion of the Raritan Plan, millions of dollars have been spent on actions to protect and restore water and watershed resources in the Raritan River Basin.  Some of these projects were direct results of the Raritan Plan.  Others resulted from partnerships formed during the Raritan Project between organizations and agencies that previously had not worked together.  Still others have been implemented independently, but focus on one or more of the six key issues discussed above.  Future articles will discuss some of the most interesting efforts, one issue at a time.

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