319 is the Magic Number

The Raritan Basin has been fortunate in receiving several Nonpoint Source Pollution grants, known as 319h grants.  These grants provide monies for the investigation and sometimes abatement of nonpoint source pollution problems in the watershed.  The NJ Water Supply Authority and various partners are working on three projects, partially funded by these grants.  They are 1) BMPs for Infalls to the Delaware and Raritan Canal; 2) Stormwater Mangement for the Cedar Grove Brook Watershed (a rapidly developing area), which also discharges to the Delaware and Raritan Canal; and 3) Stormwater Management for the Mulhockaway Creek (a rural suburbanizing area), which drains the western portion of the Spruce Run Reservoir watershed. The first two projects will result in the implementation of actions to reduce the amount of nonpoint source pollution entering the Delaware and Raritan Canal, which provides raw water to several drinking water treatment plants.  The third project will provide communities in the Mulhockaway Creek watershed with ideas and actions to manage stormwater problems from existing development. 

In addition to the Authority’s projects, three other stormwater management plans, partially funded by 319h grants, are on-going within the Raritan Basin. The plans are watershed-based and called regional stormwater management plans because communities within the watershed develop the plan together.  Middlesex County and their partners will be developing a plan for Devils, Shallow, Cedar and Cranbury Brooks, which encompass 5 HUC-14 subwatersheds in the Millstone River Watershed (WMA10). This area has known stormwater problems that range from flooding to impaired water quality. Readington Township and their partners will be developing a stormwater management plan for Pleasant Run and Holland Brooks, located in WMA8 on the South Branch Raritan River and just upstream of its confluence with the North Branch of the Raritan River. These brooks run along major thoroughfares and have experienced significant bank erosion due to stormwater flows. East Amwell and its partners are developing a plan for the Sourland Mountains area, which is located in both WMA8 and WMA10.  The Sourland Mountains contain high quality headwater streams for both the Millstone and Raritan River Watersheds.  Other entities are pursuing 319h grants in other portions of the Basin for the upcoming grant cycle (FY05).

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