Raritan Highlands Compact

The Raritan Highlands Compact  (RHC) was formed April 29, 2004, as a cooperative organization of ten voting members (Chester Borough, Chester Township, Mendham Borough, Mendham Township, Mount Arlington, Mount Olive, Randolph, Roxbury, Washington Township and  the County of Morris) and five non-voting associate members ( Morris Tomorrow, New Jersey Water Supply Authority, Regional Plan Association, South Branch Watershed Association , and Upper Raritan Watershed Association,) whose central purpose is to protect and improve water quality in this region of the Raritan River and its aquifers.

Originally the concept of a Morris Tomorrow study of the Highlands, RHC was formed with the Ten Towns -Great Swamp Watershed Management Committee as a model. The Compact has adopted three specific goals in furtherance of its central purpose of water preservation:

Drafting and advocating for land use policies and ordinances which will enable the member municipalities to protect water resources in the Raritan River watershed region

Acting as liaison between member towns and Highlands Council in order to ease and ensure compliance with the policies and requirements of the Highlands Act

Helping member towns to effectuate all of the requirements of the new storm water regulations

The Compact meets as a group at least four times per year, and a portion of each meeting is reserved for educational presentations designed to aid member towns in their environmental and preservation efforts. In the past, we've conducted presentations by the Regional Plan Association (RPA) and the Office of Smart Growth on TDR, by RPA on nitrate dilution/landscape capacity planning, by Morris County Department of Planning, Development and Technology and ANJEC on stormwater plans, by Morris County Planning Department on open space mapping and parcel prioritization. In addition, we have hosted the Highlands Council who presented an overview of their general outreach process and the requirements of the Act. In June, after the Highlands Regional Plan is published, they will return to the Compact to walk us through the specifics of the Plan and its impact on RHC towns. The actual work products which the Compact utilizes in furtherance of the overall goal of aquifer protection and preservation are generated by the open space/mapping, ordinance, and stormwater committees. These committees meet frequently and report to the members at the full Compact meetings.

With the recent passage of the Highlands Act and various other pieces of legislation designed to influence growth, the importance of preserving water resources and protecting our aquifers has become a much discussed current topic in New Jersey. Even within the context of "home rule" the necessity for taking a regional approach to water preservation has become apparent.  The Raritan Highlands Compact provides the vehicle for the member towns to cooperatively, effectively, and regionally preserve and protect the waters of our part of the Raritan River basin.

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