Interview by Emily Koai, LRWP Spring 2020 Raritan Scholar
Anton Getz, LRWP’s newest board member, is a Mapping Specialist with Michael Baker International, where he is the GIS Lead, Project Manager, and Instructor for their Floodplain Management Division. Volunteers for LRWP’s stream clean-ups will likely remember Anton as the fellow “in the water” during our events, where he helps strategize safe removal of large items from our streams. Anton has a background in geography, and is passionate about environmental stewardship and sustainability, natural resource conservation, clean water advocacy, sustainable land use, historic preservation, and local food systems.
LRWP Board Member Anton Getz at a stream clean-up – his natural habitat!
EK: Could you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
AG: I have lived in the Lower Raritan Watershed my whole life. I went to Rutgers and studied Geography, and now work on flood hazard mapping, mitigation, and risk communication for a living. I have a love and appreciation for nature and the outdoors and have a known bad habit of taking too many outdoorsy photos. I’m also an animal person and have always had dogs as a companion.
EK: Did you have any passion projects in your career that led you to where you are today?
AG: I have been doing consulting work for FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program for over a decade. This work is mostly focused on floodplain mapping, but also includes working on regulations, insurance implications, and hazard mitigation. The FEMA program has helped me see how our land development patterns have gravitated towards water over time. Serious flood hazard exist that are not obvious to normal folks on a day-to-day basis. It is so difficult to successfully communicate data, hazards, and risks to people! This work has shown how interdisciplinary water issues are—public safety, environmental health, public policy, economic activity, and social “sense-of-place” all play a role in our relationship with water.
EK: How has working with the LRWP helped enhance your personal goals for the watershed?
AG: I have been doing cleanups with LRWP for few years and joined the board earlier in 2020. We had a full slate of event-planning for the year until COVID-19 hit. So, I would say goals and progress have been slowed for the moment, but I hope that I can help grow the cleanup program, recreational activities, and donor support.
EK: How have you encouraged engagement with the watershed in your community?
AG: I’m more of a doer than a talker. I stay late at cleanups! Sometimes to the dismay of the organizers…and I work hard. Perhaps you can call it inspiration through action.
EK: Why are stream cleanups important with regard to community engagement?
AG: Stream cleanups personalize the impact of our collective human activities. We can be very insulated from the full life cycle of our consumption choices—not seeing where our stuff came from or where it goes after we are done with it. Doing a stream cleanup sheds lights on the question of where it goes, and even where it came from. “Why are there so many pieces of Styrofoam coffee cups in the river? How did a municipal recycling bin get into the river? Why are there plastics bottles filled with pee in the rivers?” With this knowledge, communities can make informed decisions about collective and personal activities. Do they want to zone and approve more businesses that produce single-use litter in their towns? Will individuals choose to purchase more package-less food from a farmer’s market? And so on.
EK: How do you see this work progressing in the future?
AG: We were trending towards and starting to plan more cleanups and more community events with growing and diversified engagement. The LRWP has certainly impressed me with its ability to attract and engage a really diversified group of supporters and volunteers. However, uncertainty has descended upon us with the COVID-19 outbreak. When and how we return to community events is unknown at this point. I hope it does not discourage turnout when we do start to resume activities, but perhaps instead inspires people to act more locally on behalf of the health of the environment and people.
EK: What is your message to anyone that wants to be more engaged?
AG: I am relatively new to the environmental non-profit world in terms of taking action beyond what I do on my own, at home, such as limiting water and energy usage, eating locally, taking care of material items so they last, etc. So it’s never too late to start. My advice would be to find a cause you believe in, talk to people involved with that cause, ask questions, and volunteer your time. It will open up doors.
Article and photos (except as noted) by LRWP Board President Heather Fenyk
The LRWP and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County monitor for Fecal Coliform and Enterococcus at six non-swimming public beach access sites along the Lower Raritan during the warmer summer months. Fecal Coliform and Enterococcus are indicators of disease-causing bacteria in our waterways.
The EPA recommends that a single Enterococcus sample be less than 110 Colony Forming Units (CFU)/100mL for primary contact. Enterococci levels are used as indicators of the possible presence of disease-causing bacteria in recreational waters. Such pathogens may pose health risks to people fishing and swimming in a water body. Sources of bacteria include Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), improperly functioning wastewater treatment plants, stormwater runoff, leaking septic systems, animal carcasses, and runoff from manure storage areas. Enterococci levels are often high after heavy or consistent rainfall.
Below are our pathogens results for September 24, 2020. We are quite surprised by how bad these results are, given that we haven’t had rain for over a week.
Please note: results are preliminary and pending quality control.
Field Notes for 9.24.2020
Hell Money
“Hell Bank Note” found in the water at Boyd Park
We aren’t quite sure what to make of this $10,000 “Hell Bank Note” found floating on the Raritan at Boyd Park. However, we DO know a great way to spend a Saturday and help the earth at the same time! Help us get trash like this out of the water during our Saturday September 26 socially-distanced clean-up of Seeley’s Run in Franklin Township! Due to COVID we are asking that folx register in advance.
Birding!
It is always a treat to go out sampling with a birder. LRWP volunteer Roger Dreyling knows his birds, and has a great eye for capturing them on film. We identified several types of gulls yesterday, saw osprey, mallards, cormorants, and caught up with a loon in South Amboy! It was fun to hear its haunting cry.
Common Loon – Photo: Roger DreylingDouble Crested Cormorant – Photo: Roger Dreyling
Pathogens Samples transfer
No doubt stranger items have been exchanged in the IKEA parking lot in Elizabeth, NJ. Still, passersby were curious as we scooped ice and sample bottles from one cooler to another not far from a sea of pressed plywood and Swedish meatballs. Many thanks to IEC’s Jessica Bonamusa for saving us a trip to her lab Brooklyn.
Water quality samples transfer to our IEC lab liaison.
Photos and article by LRWP Board President Heather Fenyk
The LRWP and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County monitor for Fecal Coliform and Enterococcus at six non-swimming public beach access sites along the Lower Raritan during the warmer summer months. Fecal Coliform and Enterococcus are indicators of disease-causing bacteria in our waterways.
The EPA recommends that a single Enterococcus sample be less than 110 Colony Forming Units (CFU)/100mL for primary contact. Enterococci levels are used as indicators of the possible presence of disease-causing bacteria in recreational waters. Such pathogens may pose health risks to people fishing and swimming in a water body. Sources of bacteria include Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), improperly functioning wastewater treatment plants, stormwater runoff, leaking septic systems, animal carcasses, and runoff from manure storage areas. Enterococci levels are often high after heavy or consistent rainfall.
Here are our pathogens results for September 10, 2020. Please note that we received over an inch of rain in our Lower Raritan monitoring areas the evening after monitoring. As such we expect pathogens levels to be much higher than what was sampled in the morning.
Please note: results are preliminary and pending quality control.
Pathogens Results for Raritan River Public Access Non-Swimming Beach Sites
Field Notes for 9.10.2020
Lots of rain while monitoring our first three sites on September 10, 2020 made for a soggy day. The water at all sites was dark brown and thick with sediment from upstream. Our rain gauge showed 1.52 inches when we checked it the morning after monitoring. Most of that rainfall occurred on September 10 between 7-10 pm. Please take extra care when in any waterway after rainfall, especially heavy rains that send so much sediment and waste into our local streams and River.
In addition to capturing water quality samples we collect data on salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and other parametersSample bottles for genetic source trackdown, analysis conducted by Rutgers Fahrenfeld Lab
Genetic analysis will help us pinpoint the source of fecal loads in our waterways
Filtering sample from South Amboy 9.10.2020 – Surf at the South Amboy site was particularly rough yesterday, with lots of red algae in the water. Photo – Michele Bakacs
Summer 2020 Raritan Monitoring Sites
The New Jersey state Department of Environmental Protection and Middlesex County Health Departments typically monitor at sanctioned public swimming beach sites. They do not monitor the water quality for pathogens at public access non-swimming beach sites along the Raritan, despite regular use of these areas for primary contact (fishing and swimming) by members of our urban communities.
The LRWP works with in partnership with the Interstate Environmental Commission for lab analysis of our samples. We have a Quality Assurance Protocol Plan (QAPP) approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. We work to report our results as soon as lab analysis is completed.
You can find more information on our monitoring sites here, and an overview of our pathogens monitoring program here.
On Saturday September 12, the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership will join groups throughout the New York New Jersey Harbor Estuary in bringing attention to climate change and the resilient nature of our waterfront neighborhoods.
This year we focus on our New Brunswick, NJ community and landscape and will offer programming in New Brunswick’s waterfront Boyd Park from 9 am to 3 pm. Please join us!
In addition to appropriately social-distanced in-person activities, a portion of our programming for the day (from 11am – noon) will be shared virtually via Facebook live. Log-in details will be sent to those who preregister.
City of Water Day events in New Brunswick will include:
#lookfortheriver: FRAMES sculpture installation – ENGLISH AND SPANISH (9am – 3pm)
Event participants will observe sculpture artist Tobiah Horton (Rubble R & D) during a “work day” as he installs a new sculpture #lookfortheriver: FRAME in New Brunswick’s Boyd Park Raritan River riverfront.
Participants will have a chance to speak with Toby and members of the LRWP board about flooding and resilience along the Raritan River, and about the #lookfortheriver: FRAMES project. New Brunswick’s Boyd Park floodplain suffers repeat flood inundation, and serves as a protective “sponge” for other parts of New Brunswick. The #lookfortheriver: FRAME sculpture tells the story of infrastructure that is at-risk of flood inundation due to climate change and sea level rise. The sculpture is a living symbol of how removal of structures (in this case a house) from our floodplains allows for ecological restoration and regeneration, and fosters resilience.
Participants will also learn how the FRAMES sculpture functions as a data gathering tool. Through repeat digital photography uploaded to social media, passersby participate in civic science data collection about sea level rise, land use change, and resilience. Data gathered will allow for prioritization of resilience and restoration planning.
2. Water quality monitoring demonstrations – ENGLISH AND SPANISH (9:30-10 am and 11-11:30 am)
The LRWP and EARTH Center of Middlesex County collect weekly samples of Raritan River water for analysis of disease-causing bacteria. We will provide demonstrations of these activities and information about our findings thus far. Learn how and why we do this work and how you can get involved!
3. Raritan River Resilience info sharing – ENGLISH AND SPANISH (9am – 3pm)
This will include discussion of the regional BlueLine Initiative, flood hazard mapping, New Brunswick’s Municipal Public Access Plan, South River Ecosystem restoration proposals, and discussion of the LRWP’s NJ DEP-funded regional resilience planning grant
DUE TO COVID CONCERNS PREREGISTRATION IS APPRECIATED. ONLY THOSE WHO PREREGISTER WILL RECEIVE ADVANCE INFORMATION TO LINK TO THE FACEBOOK LIVE EVENT.
Interview by Emily Koai, LRWP Spring 2020 Raritan Scholar
Nandini Checko was born in India and moved to the United States at a young age. She earned her bachelors and masters degrees at Rutgers and Columbia Universities respectively. When her children started school, she began her journey in local volunteering in schools and townships within Somerset County. She has helped with a multitude of initiatives in an effort to improve local sustainability. Through her work with LRWP and ANJEC, she hopes for improved civic engagement in communities and a more profound understanding of our interconnectedness with nature.
EK: Could you tell us a little about yourself and your background?
NC: Unlike many of my colleagues, I don’t have an environmental science background. I have a bachelor’s degree from Rutgers School of Business, and a master’s degree from Columbia in Organizational Development. My degree in organizational development has helped frame the work that I do because it takes a holistic approach to managing change — the people, systems, process and technology. It’s a highly collaborative approach to help move a project along and to help folks really co-create their future.
EK: What led you to your focus in plastics then?
NC: It started with my organization that I work for right now, which is the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC)— a statewide, non-profit environmental group that helps New Jersey environmental commissions, individuals, local and state agencies preserve natural resources and promote sustainable communities. We just celebrated 50 years of environmental excellence. We are a small but mighty group! My boss came to me maybe about 4 years ago and said EPA Region 2 is doing a roll out of a program called Trash Free Waters – zero waste loading of trash into our waterways, and at that time, Region 2 (NJ, NY, PR, US Virgin Islands, & eight Indian Nations) was led by Judith Enck. She’s an absolute visionary, a total leader, similar to Heather—very inspiring and amazing woman.
ANJEC started dipping their toes in and asked “What would that really look like in New Jersey?” When we dug into that question, we found our way to the problem of people pollution. The nine million of us that live in New Jersey—we’re all polluting in our own little way. So much waste entering our natural eco-systems. And when you dig down into that waste (especially litter), then you’re looking at plastics, and when you go a little further into plastics, you realize the majority of it is single-use, once and done.
That really motivated us to take this and move this agenda item forward. It aligns very well with our mission of supporting the local environment and I had a lot of support to advance reducing single-use plastics from my boss, Jennifer Coffey (ANJEC Executive Director) – an inspirational leader that gives the staff a lot of leeway.
EK: Did you have any passion projects in your career that led you to where you are today?
NC: I lived in India during my formative years and was always really connected to the environment. I’m very sensitive about waste– whether it’s litter or food waste, just waste in general, it bothers me deeply because it’s such a pull on the Earth’s resources.
We recycle at home, and when my son started elementary school, I figured the school was doing the same. And then he came home a few weeks in and said that they don’t recycle in school. I looked into it and, sure enough, they weren’t recycling. That started me on the path of local volunteering. I started the Green Design Group and we created sustainable efforts within the community and put forth a lot of the initiatives in schools and the township. And through that effort, I also started the Green Classroom Committee. As a parent volunteer, I worked with the superintendent, the facilities manager, business administrator, students and teachers to help educate and implement a variety of programs from anti-idling, removing Styrofoam lunch trays, and energy efficiency programs.
When you think about what gets people activated, it’s about what they can see, touch and feel in their own lives. When you see the woods in your town on fire, you’re going to get involved and ask: Why is that on fire? How can I help? For me, it was my kids. I was recycling at home and they come back from school and say they’re not recycling there. That’s when I got curious. Children are key to helping adults get involved in civic engagement.
EK: On a wider scale, what roles do you think municipalities have in progressing the work we are doing as an organization?
NC: I think they play a massive role. Municipalities are key players in advancing LRWP’s mission of improving water quality and the health of the ecosystem of the Raritan River. Given NJ’s home rule structure, local governance is essential to making water stewardship and advocacy a priority.
EK: What kind of opportunities do you think there are for partnership between the LRWP and the ANJEC?
NC: “Water is life, and we have a moral obligation to protect it for all its inhabitants now and in the future.” This quote from Candy Ashmun, ANJEC Co-founder, highlights the synergy between our two groups. Environmental commissions play a pretty unique role in municipalities. Most local planning happens within the boundaries of the town and in site development, it’s just by block and lot numbers. You’re not looking to see how it’s all connected. Water, land, animals have no boundaries. And environmental commissioners, when they take that bigger regional look, they’re looking at the watershed. Through my role at ANJEC, I would like to introduce more municipal officials to LRWP and help advance our mutual goals.
EK: What would you like to communicate to today’s society about watersheds and the environment?
Watersheds play a really key role in all our lives. We have to support reducing the amount of pollution that enters the watersheds and people need to better understand where their water comes from and where it goes.
Photos and article by LRWP Board President Heather Fenyk
The LRWP and EARTH Center of Middlesex County monitors for Fecal Coliform and Enterococcus at six non-swimming public beach access sites along the Lower Raritan during the warmer summer months. Fecal Coliform and Enterococcus are indicators of disease-causing bacteria in our waterways.
The EPA recommends that a single Enterococcus sample be less than 110 Colony Forming Units (CFU)/100mL for primary contact. Enterococci levels are used as indicators of the possible presence of disease-causing bacteria in recreational waters. Such pathogens may pose health risks to people fishing and swimming in a water body. Sources of bacteria include Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), improperly functioning wastewater treatment plants, stormwater runoff, leaking septic systems, animal carcasses, and runoff from manure storage areas. Enterococci levels are often high after heavy or consistent rainfall.
Briefly, our Sayreville, South Amboy and Perth Amboy sites are looking good this week! Please note that these results for August 20, 2020 are preliminary and awaiting Quality Control.
Field Notes
Yesterday was an exquisite day for sampling the Raritan!
Clear and gorgeous waters, and the re-purposing of a broom handle into our snazzy new sampling stick.Thanks to Maya and NJ Watershed Ambassador Heather Miara for lending a hand in the field.Thanks also to IEC’s wonderful Jessica Bonamusa for meeting us in the Elizabeth IKEA parking lot for the sample handoff.This week we kick off our genetic source trackdown analysis – the larger sample bottle in the mix of pathogens sample bottles will go to a Rutgers lab for filtering and analysis. We’re looking forward to more definitively pinning our pathogens problems on human, beast or fowl.
Summer 2020 Lower Raritan Monitoring Sites
The New Jersey state Department of Environmental Protection and Middlesex County Health Departments typically monitor at sanctioned public swimming beach sites. They do not monitor the water quality for pathogens at public access non-swimming beach sites along the Raritan, despite regular use of these areas for primary contact (fishing and swimming) by members of our urban communities.
The LRWP works with in partnership with the Interstate Environmental Commission for lab analysis of our samples. We have a Quality Assurance Protocol Plan (QAPP) approved by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. We work to report our results as soon as lab analysis is completed.
We will also soon send invitations for a virtual flyover “tour”
of our Lower Raritan Watershed. This special event will include Q & A with photographer
Alison M. Jones, who will share images of the Raritan Basin taken during a
recent flight sponsored by LightHawk.
The Covid-19 crisis has a huge impact on humanity, on our institutions, on ourselves.
During this time, it is hard to stay engaged in the
environmental issues we care so deeply about.
Join the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership at the May meeting of the Middlesex County Water Resources Association for a presentation on 2019 Water Quality Monitoring Findings and Next Steps for 2020!
Monday May 11, 1:30-3:30 pm. We will meet in the Middlesex County Administration Building, Freeholder Meeting Room
Registration is now open for the LRWP’s first “Watershed Highlights and Hidden Streams” walking tour of 2021!
Join us on Saturday July 24, 10-noon as we visit one of the northernmost areas of the Lower Raritan Watershed and explore the Watchung Reservation’s Blue Brook and Lake Surprise.
The walk, guided by our own David Tulloch, will help our hikers begin to discover this massive Olmsted Brothers-designed park. With help from a few maps, Dr. Tulloch will talk about the context of the park within the watershed as well as the context of this culturally-significant historic landscape within the surrounding communities of Union County.
We will be meeting in the Watchung Reservation at the area called The Loop (Some park signs point towards the Loop and its playground). At 10am our group will depart on foot from the building (with bathrooms) shown with the red marker below (40.687, -74.374).
Estimated 4 miles of walking.
Registration required. Please check the LRWP website for updates, especially in the case of inclement weather.
The Watchung Reservation is in Scotch Plains, NJ 07076
The LRWP and Middlesex County Division of Parks are co-hosting our first clean-up of 2020 of a very special area in New Brunswick – the New Brunswick Conservation Zone!
This clean-up will take place at 9:30 AM on Saturday February 22
We will meet in the far corner of the New Brunswick AMC Movie Theater parking lot – this is the section closest to the Route 1 Bridges: 17 US Highway 1 / New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Gloves and bags will be supplied. Please wear rubber boots and clothing you don’t mind getting dirty.
