by LRWP Outreach Monitoring Coordinator Jocelyn Palomino
The Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County have wrapped up another year of the volunteer pathogens monitoring program!! A very special thank you to all the volunteers who came out this year and our partners who helped the program run smoothly: Frank Dahl, Irene Riegner, Colleen Georges, Rose Lawless, Sheyla Casco, Monica Orso, Piash Ahamed, Genevieve Ehasz, Nicole Fahrenfeld, Samantha Wilder, and all our friends at the Interstate Environmental Commission!
Our water quality samples taken on October 5, 2023 show Enterococcus bacteria levels exceed the EPA federal water quality standard at our three most upstream sites. However, the expected rain for this Saturday will likely affect these results. Problem sites are indicated by red frowns on the map and chart which includes: Riverside Park (Piscataway), Rutgers Boathouse (New Brunswick), and Edison Boat Basin (Edison). Green smiles on the chart and map indicate sites with bacteria levels safe for recreation and include: Ken Buchanan Waterfront Park (Sayreville), South Amboy Waterfront Park (South Amboy), and 2nd Street Park (Perth Amboy).
Enterococcus and Fecal Coliform levels are used as indicators for 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. Possible sources of bacteria include Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), improperly functioning wastewater treatment plants, leaking septic systems, and stormwater run off.
Our goal in reporting these results is to give area residents an understanding of potential health risks related to primary contact (touching) the water during water based recreation. Although we are done monitoring for the year, always remember to stay safe and wash thoroughly after enjoying recreational activities on the Raritan!
Blue skies on our last day of monitoring for the 2023 season!! Photo Credit: Heather Fenyk
Our team of volunteers for the week on the docks at Edison Boat Basin: Frank, Irene, and Genevieve. Photo Credit: Heather Fenyk
It’s always great meeting folks out in the field and sharing our information with them! Photo Credits: Heather Fenyk
by LRWP Outreach Monitoring Coordinator Jocelyn Palomino
The Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County run a volunteer pathogens monitoring program from May to September every summer along the Raritan River. We collect water quality samples at 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 water quality samples taken on September 21, 2023 show Enterococcus bacteria levels exceed the EPA federal water quality standard at our three most upstream sites this week. Problem sites are indicated by red frowns on the map and chart which includes: Riverside Park (Piscataway), Rutgers Boathouse (New Brunswick), and Edison Boat Basin (Edison). Green smiles on the chart and map indicate sites with bacteria levels safe for recreation and include: Ken Buchanan Waterfront Park (Sayreville), South Amboy Waterfront Park (South Amboy), and 2nd Street Park (Perth Amboy).
Enterococcus and Fecal Coliform levels are used as indicators for 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. Possible sources of bacteria include Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), improperly functioning wastewater treatment plants, leaking septic systems, and stormwater run off.
Our goal in reporting these results is to give area residents an understanding of potential health risks related to primary contact (touching) the water during water based recreation. Always remember to wash thoroughly after enjoying your weekend activities on the Raritan!
Our team of volunteers at Riverside Park early on Thursday morning, Photo Credit: Heather Fenyk
Broken Ganesh sculptures in the shallow waters at Riverside, Photo Credit: Heather Fenyk
A great day for fishing on the Raritan, volunteers shared the dock with some folks at the Edison Boat Basin, Photo Credit: Heather Fenyk
by LRWP Outreach Monitoring Coordinator Jocelyn Palomino
The Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County run a volunteer pathogens monitoring program from May to September every summer along the Raritan River. We collect water quality samples at 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.
Once again, our water quality samples taken on September 14, 2023 show Enterococcus bacteria levels exceed the EPA federal water quality standard at only one of our sites this week. Problem sites are indicated by red frowns on the map and chart which includes our most upstream site for the 5th week in a row: Riverside Park (Piscataway). Green smiles on the chart and map indicate sites with bacteria levels safe for recreation and include: Rutgers Boathouse (New Brunswick), Edison Boat Basin (Edison), Ken Buchanan Waterfront Park (Sayreville), South Amboy Waterfront Park (South Amboy), and 2nd Street Park (Perth Amboy).
Enterococcus and Fecal Coliform levels are used as indicators for 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. Possible sources of bacteria include Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), improperly functioning wastewater treatment plants, leaking septic systems, and stormwater run off.
Our goal in reporting these results is to give area residents an understanding of potential health risks related to primary contact (touching) the water during water based recreation. Always remember to wash thoroughly after enjoying your weekend activities on the Raritan!
This is what our trunk looks like during monitoring season… filled with plenty of supplies such as gloves, hand sanitizers, calibration buffers, and of course our monitoring equipment! Photo Credit: Heather Fenyk
Piash Ahamed and Frank Dahl working together to record the data off the YSI, while Genevieve is in the water (with waders)holding the probe, Photo Credit: Heather Fenyk
Frank Dahl checking out the CSO found at the end of 2nd Street Park in Perth Amboy, it is occasionally open with an active discharge after heavy precipitation events, Photo Credit: Heather Fenyk
As always, thanks to our team of volunteers who came out this Thursday: Frank Dahl, Genevieve Ehasz, Piash Ahamed, and board president Heather Fenyk!
by LRWP Outreach Monitoring Coordinator Jocelyn Palomino
The Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County run a volunteer pathogens monitoring program from May to September every summer along the Raritan River. We collect water quality samples at 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 water quality samples taken on September 7, 2023 show Enterococcus bacteria levels exceed the EPA federal water quality standard at only one of our sites this week. Problem sites are indicated by red frowns on the map and chart which includes our most upstream site: Riverside Park (Piscataway). Green smiles on the chart and map indicate sites with bacteria levels safe for recreation and include: Rutgers Boathouse (New Brunswick), Edison Boat Basin (Edison), Ken Buchanan Waterfront Park (Sayreville), South Amboy Waterfront Park (South Amboy), and 2nd Street Park (Perth Amboy).
Enterococcus and Fecal Coliform levels are used as indicators for 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. Possible sources of bacteria include Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs), improperly functioning wastewater treatment plants, leaking septic systems, and stormwater run off.
Our goal in reporting these results is to give area residents an understanding of potential health risks related to primary contact (touching) the water during water based recreation. Always be sure to wash thoroughly after any recreational activities and have a safe weekend on the Raritan!
Low tide at our first site in Piscataway as Genevieve retrieves our samples for the week, Photo Credit: Heather Fenyk
Keep an eye out for our stickers posted at all our monitoring locations with a QR code leading directly to our weekly results, Photo Credit: Heather Fenyk
Special thanks to Genevieve Ehasz and Heather Fenyk for taking care of our sampling this week! Photo Credit: Heather Fenyk
By LRWP Board President Heather Fenyk, Ph.D., AICP/PP
Today, October 18, 2022, marks the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act (CWA). To be sure, we owe a debt of gratitude to the shapers of the 1972 CWA for creating a law that significantly stemmed the flow of noxious point source pollutants into the nation’s waters. While we celebrate the successes of this seminal legislation, it is important to acknowledge the still unmet mandate of the CWA to bring about drinkable, fishable, swimmable waters. Water pollution remains a profound problem, with more than forty-seven thousand US waters still impaired. This includes every single stream, brook and river in the Lower Raritan Watershed. The major source of pollution into waters US and globally? Non-point source runoff from farm fields and the hardscape surfaces of our developed landscapes.
The LRWP believes we must chart a new path to meet drinkable, fishable, swimmable goals in the next 50 years:
In terms of strategy, centering the health of watersheds in environmental policymaking is key to realizing healthy waters.
This strategy must include integrated watershed management approaches that: 1) minimize impacts of land uses and development on waterways (good stormwater management is a start, however it does not go far enough as preventive practice); 2) require wastewater and stormwater be managed as assets; and 3) center the hydrologic cycle and aquatic systems in maintaining and restoring habitat connectivity.
On October 22 the LRWP will host a clean-up of the South River floodplain to recognize the 10th anniversary of SuperStorm Sandy. Reflecting on the impact of this storm we recall the catastrophic failure of Middlesex County Utilities Authority’s centralized sewage treatment facility. Sandy-related failure of the MCUA facility resulted in direct point source discharge of hundreds of millions of raw, untreated sewage into our waters. Observing how MCUA continues to discharge treated sanitary sewage into the Raritan River gives us pause. A holistic watershed management approach views wastewater as an asset, with water reclamation and reuse closing the loop between water supply and wastewater disposal. Setting an agenda for clean water for the next 50 years we must prioritize these better ways to clean up our waterways while meeting other sustainability goals.
By LRWP Monitoring Outreach Coordinator Jocelyn Palomino
The Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County run a volunteer pathogens monitoring program from May to September every Summer. On Thursdays we collect water quality samples at six (6) non-bathing public access beach sites along the Raritan River, provide our samples to the Interstate Environmental Commission for analysis in their laboratory, and report the results to the public on Friday afternoons. Our goal in reporting these results is to give area residents an understanding of potential health risks related to primary contact (touching) the water during water based recreation.
Our lab results for our final water quality sampling session of the season on October 6, 2022 indicate Enterococcus bacteria levels exceeding the EPA federal water quality standard of 104 cfu/100mL at ALL of our Lower Raritan sites. This is not surprising given the abundance of rainfall earlier in the week. We received as much as 4.5 inches of rain in some parts of the watershed from October 1-5. We know that the more rain that falls on the land, washing waste off impervious surfaces and into the waters, the higher the Enterococci pathogens counts in our water quality samples. And at our Perth Amboy Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) site we observed point source sanitary waste flows directly into the River, with abundant pulverized toilet paper floating in the water.
Our problem sites for October 6, indicated by red frowns on the map and chart, include: Riverside Park (Piscataway), Rutgers Boathouse (New Brunswick), Edison Boat Ramp 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. Possible 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. Such pathogens may pose health risks to people fishing and swimming in a water body. If you choose to recreate on the Raritan, please do so safely and be sure to wash thoroughly after all activities!
That’s a wrap for our Summer 2022 Pathogens Monitoring Program! Special thanks to our partners Michele Bakacs at Rutgers Cooperative Extension, Samantha Wilder and Evelyn Powers the Interstate Environmental Commission, and Nicole Fahrenfeld, Cristian Sanlatte, and Genevieve Ehasz with the Fahrenfeld Lab at Rutgers University. And extra special thanks to our amazing team of volunteers: Andrew Gehman, Frank Dahl, Julisa Collado, and Doreen Camardi.
A great picture of the team at the Rutgers Boat Dock during our last monitoring run this season.
Pictured left to right: Heather Fenyk, Jocelyn Palomino, Julisa Collado and Frank Dahl.
Photo Credit: Andrew Gehman
Andrew Gehman observes birds flying by at our Edison Site, Photo Credits: Jocelyn Palomino
While we were sampling at the Ken Buchanan Waterfront Park, we shared the dock with a local man who had just caught a 27-inch striped bass, Photo Credits: Jocelyn Palomino
With an active discharge coming from the CSO at Perth Amboy’s 2nd St. Park, the water was filled with pulverized toilet paper along with an overwhelming odor after the heavy rainfall from the week, Photo Credits: Jocelyn Palomino
Since Summer 2019 the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership and Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Middlesex County have conducted pathogens monitoring for Fecal Coliform and Enterococcus at six non-swimming public beach access sites along the Lower Raritan during the warmer months.
In this video, filmed as part of a public outreach session on 3.24.2022, we present a summary of data and findings for 2019-2021 monitoring, including analysis results of genetic source. We also share information about our monitoring plans for Summer 2022, including our partnership with the EPA.
On Friday March 25, noon to 1 PM EST the LRWP will join our No Water No Life partners for a special conversation on how “Mentorship Goes Both Ways.”
No Water No Life writes:
“DIVE IN” is a new No Water No Life round-table event with our partners, advisors and NextGen bloggers discussing their views on freshwater resources, watershed issues and the value of mentorship.
Our first event will feature Heather Fenyk, Founder and President of the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership and Rachel Rebello, environmental law student at Georgetown. Facilitated by the NWNL team, Heather and Rachel will be in conversation about the importance of mentorship and sharing their personal conservation journeys.
On February 24, 2022 the Lower Raritan Watershed Partnership, Princeton Hydro and Middlesex County Office of Planning hosted a Virtual Outreach Session to share concept plan development for the restoration of a 165-acre coastal eco-park along the South River in New Jersey.
During this webinar project partners discuss ecosystem restoration; contextualize the site and its historic and current conditions; provide drone images of the site; and discuss proposed public access opportunities, recreational priorities, ecological enhancement (including identifying optimal nest platform locations for Osprey, Bald Eagles, and Peregrine Falcons), and more.
This project is supported through a $249,639 in National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant to:
“Conduct an ecosystem restoration site assessment and design for 165 acres of tidal marshes and transitional forest in New Jersey’s Raritan River Watershed. Project will result in an engineering plan with a permit-ready design to reduce coastal inundation and erosion along about 2.5 miles of shoreline for neighboring flood-prone communities and enhance breeding and foraging habitat for 10 state-listed threatened and endangered avian species.”
It is incumbent on the world of Environmental Non Governmental Organizations (ENGOs) to stand in solidarity with those protesting police brutality and systemic racial injustices. It is imperative that our ENGOs work to address these societal wrongs.
There are countless links between environmental injustice, environmental harms, racism, and inequality.
“I CAN’T BREATHE”. George Floyd’s last words, uttered under the knee of an officer of the peace, are as symbolic of our environmental injustices as they are of our history of racism in policing. “I can’t breathe” has been spoken by hundreds of thousands before George Floyd in the context of systemic racism that results in higher asthma rates in communities of color and, more recently, higher incidence of COVID-19 in communities of color.
What actions can our ENGOs take to be better allies in the fight against systemic racism?
Especially with respect to environmental and land use issues, our ENGOs hold data, advance research strategies, and have special insights into how to reform a racist system in which the status quo has always been unjust. Going forward:
1.We must prioritize analyses that focus on understanding the true extent of environmental injustices in our communities.
Environmental injustice is a term that describes how people of color and poor communities have borne disproportionate harm from pollution and environmental risks, and the discriminatory systems that have perpetuated those inequities. Most ENGOs collect and hold abundant environmental data (water and air quality, soil studies, hydrologic functions, climate trends, risks and hazards, etc.) that can be triangulated with life expectancy, land use, US Census, racial, demographic, and other social and health data variables to better understand the true extent of environmental injustice in our communities. We must prioritize these analyses in our work.
2.We must advance an understanding of how regional land management, especially in Home Rule states, can serve as an antidote to environmental racism and environmental injustices.
“Home Rule” biases in land use decision-making means that municipalities are not required to take into consideration the impact of these decisions on regional growth patterns, existing or planned land uses in adjacent municipalities, or watershed and larger ecological systems impacts. Examples of undesired impacts include flood control decisions that displace flood waters to neighboring municipalities, and fragmentation of habitat that compromises regional environmental health.
Local impacts are felt in low income communities that are not only not prioritized for flood protection or environmental clean-ups, but that also continue to be identified for siting of locally undesirable land uses (LULUs). Regional environmental planning, especially watershed management of large ecosystems, demands integrated thinking and coordination. Regional environmental planning promotes healthy communities and resilience through equity considerations at larger scales.
3.We must pressure our state Departments of Environmental Protection to rank our contaminated sites in order of risk and urgency with respect to climate change and environmental health, prioritizing the environmental health of communities of color and the most vulnerable.
Developing a community health-based prioritized ranking for clean-up of our contaminated sites can serve as a corrective to market-driven remediation that focuses on clean-up of the most economically desirable contaminated sites.
4.We must continue to gather water quality, air quality, and other data for lands and waters disproportionately accessed by people of color.
5.We must research the extent to which our local communities of color are more likely than white people to be at risk of hazards related to climate change.
6.We must advance “citizen science” practices and provide our environmental data and other resources to all our communities so that they can analyze and understand environmental justice issues in their own neighborhoods.
7.We must educate ourselves about historic and system racism, supporting those who are imagining a new path forward for our state and nation through structural change.
