2025 marks the LRWP’s 10th year as a non-profit. Our dedicated board has worked hard to implement a strategy to ensure we can continue watershed stewardship for the next 10 years. We look forward to sharing more on what our stewardship vision looks like in coming months. For now, we are pleased to share a snapshot of recent grant awards and partnerships we look forward to building on:

• The Borough of Highland Park renewed our lease for the 101 Raritan Avenue Boat Shop through the end of December 2027. This extended lease lends certainty to program delivery, and we will soon revamp the space to accommodate a greater variety of activities.
• Environmental Endowment of New Jersey granted $7,000 to support “Advancing Climate Vulnerability Assessments at Superfund Sites for the Lower Raritan Watershed.” This will allow us to improve Community Right To Know (CRTK) outreach regarding environmental hazards in our communities.
• Mohawk Canoe Club granted $10,000 to support development of a Raritan River Access Guide and to expand our paddling program. In addition to FREE public paddles scheduled June 14, July 3, and August 30 we will host on-water events for Highland Park Summer Camp and “pop up” paddles on hot summer nights. Stay tuned!
• New Jersey Department of Education granted $15,000 to support delivery of Professional Development for K-12 educators, focusing on place-based and case-based watershed curriculum. This grant, through the Climate Change Learning Collaborative, will allow us to share lessons in how to conduct eel and stream habitat assessments, water quality monitoring and more with teachers throughout New Jersey.
• Arts Institute of Middlesex County granted $5,000 for EcoArts programming.
• Arts Institute of Middlesex County granted $20,000 for “Heritage Hydrology Mapping & Research for the Lower Raritan Watershed.” This will support archive and annotate historic map sources that show streams/hydrology in six Middlesex County municipalities to better understand transportation and other infrastructure failure risk related to buried and culverted streams.
• New York/New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program granted $3,000 to support migratory eel monitoring. Our last monitoring session for the year will be May 10, 1pm – join us!
• Co-hosting a June 2025 Conference for Mayors focused on the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan – in partnership with the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, the New Jersey State Planning Commission, and the New Jersey Conference of Mayors.