By LRWP Monitoring Outreach Coordinator Jocelyn Palomino

The Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County have wrapped up their 6th season of water quality monitoring along the Raritan river! A very big thank you to all the volunteers who joined us in the field this summer: Art Allgauer, Ed Carrington, Frank Dahl, Shely Dash, Andrew Gehman, Sofi Grossman, Amane Kariya, Rose Lawless, Sanil and Thulasi Nambiar, Irene Riegner and Nibav Velan. Throughout the summer, we collect water quality samples at six non-bathing public access beach sites, provide our samples to the Interstate Environmental Commission for analysis in their laboratory and report the results to the public on Friday afternoons. Our mission is to share this data with the community and partners to ensure the safe use of the Raritan river for all.

Our lab results for water quality samples taken on Thursday October 3, 2024 show Enterococcus bacteria levels exceeding the EPA federal water quality standard of 104 cfu/100mL at TWO of our monitoring sites this week. Problem sites are indicated by red frowns on the map and chart which includes: Riverside Park (Piscataway) and Rutgers Boathouse (New Brunswick). Green smiles on the chart and map indicate the sites with bacteria levels safe for recreation, which include: Edison Boat Basin and Ken Buchanan Waterfront Park (Edison), South Amboy Waterfront Park (South Amboy) and 2nd Street Park (Perth Amboy).

Pathogens/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 coming in primary contact with the water (touching) through recreational activities like fishing, kayaking or swimming in a water body. Possible sources of bacteria include stormwater runoff, Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), improperly functioning wastewater treatment plants, leaking septic systems, animal carcasses, and runoff from manure storage areas.

Our goal in reporting these results is to give residents a better understanding of the potential health risks related to primary contact during water-based recreation. If you decide to recreate on Raritan this weekend, please keep this data in mind and wash up properly after any activities!

An overcast covered the Raritan from the docks of the Rutgers boathouse, the river’s tranquility gave us a peaceful start to our last Thursday morning of monitoring. Photo credit: Jocelyn Palomino

While doing field observations at the Edison Boat Basin, Sofi Grossman and Jocelyn stumbled upon a seemingly injured gull on the rocks by the water. It did not appear to be physically injured, however, it was unable to fly or walk. Art Allgauer gladly offered to drop the gull off at The Raptor Trust- a rehabilitation center in Millington. Photo credit: Sofi Grossman

We usually spot a lot of interesting wildlife at our Sayreville site, but we think we may have spotted a juvenile eagle yesterday thanks to Sofi and Franks’s binoculars. Photo credit: Sofi Grossman

Very large horseshoe crab shell on the shores of the South Amboy beach! Photo credit: Sofi Grossman

The sun broke through the clouds as we reached the end of our 2024 season at Perth Amboy. Thank you again to all the volunteers who were a part of the program- hope to see you again next summer! Photo credit: Sofi Grossman