Roberts Swamp Brook Restoration Project

Project Summary and Objectives

In Monmouth County, Water Watch is working in partnership with Brookdale Community College, Monmouth University, Manasquan River Management Group, Manasquan Environmental Commission and NJ Watershed Management Area 12 to restore the Roberts Swamp Brook.

The Manasquan River Estuary is widely recognized as one of New Jersey's top sport fishing areas. Winter and summer flounder, bluefish and striped bass are among the more than 75 species of fish the area supports. However, development and road-building near the Roberts Swamp Brook is threatening critical habitat and the water quality. Non-point source pollution threatens both the Roberts Swamp Brook and the Manasquan River. Restoring the riparian habitat of Roberts Swamp Brook will improve its water quality and habitat and will directly impact the flow into the Manasquan River.

Community involvement is the key to long-term success in restoring and protecting Roberts Swamp Brook. NJ Community Water Watch is working with volunteers from Brookdale University, community groups, public schools and Monmouth University to implement the restoration project and ensure the future health of the brook.

Moreover, educating children about their local waterways and how they can help address the problems in their community can help local citizens prevent future waterway degradation.

The project objectives are:

•To improve water quality for sport fish in the Manasquan River Estuary by restoring the Roberts Swamp Brook;

•To provide environmental education to hundreds of Manasquan school children and involve them in direct service projects on the Roberts Swamp Brook;

•To strengthen Manasquan communities surrounding the Roberts Swamp Brook by uniting a diversity of groups and people around the common goals of revitalizing Manasquan waterways.

Stream Monitoring

To determine the health of the brook and area land use patterns we organized two stream assessments events. NJ Community Water Watch AmeriCorps members worked with students from Brookdale Community College, Monmouth University, and Ocean County College, as well as community members and environmental leaders to complete this assessment.

The first stream-walk consisted of a 6-site visual assessment of Robert Swamp Brook according to the Natural Resource Conservation Service's Stream Visual Assessment Protocol. Volunteers monitored for the following assessment elements - channel condition, riparian zone, bank stability, water appearance, nutrient enrichment, barriers to fish movement, and in-stream fish cover. The assessment determined that Robert Swamp Brook was more impaired the further downstream you went. The sites furthest downstream sites were located on both sides of Route 71, and both received a "poor" rating on the assessment. However, further upstream, Robert Swamp Brook was more consistently getting ratings of "fair" and even one "good" rating. Potential reasons for these changes in overall rating include new housing developments, some of which have gone up in the last 5-10 years and some are still being built right alongside the brook. Stream width is much wider downstream of the new developments and erosion especially seems to be one of the biggest impairment factors in those locations.

Recently, a second stream monitoring event was held to gain a better understanding of the overall brook health, particularly biological indicators. Jim Burkitt, Watershed Area 12 representative of NJ Department of Environmental Protection Watershed Ambassador program, conducted the RATS and BATS assessment with a team of volunteers. The RATS (River Assessment Teams) analysis was fairly consistent with the previous NRCS Visual Assessment done in November.

However, the BATS (Biological Assessment Teams) analysis showed significant impairment as Robert Swamp Brook scored "poor" on the analysis. The only macro-invertebrates found at this site were midge fly larvae, aquatic worms, lung snails, and some scuds. With the exception of scuds, those organisms are very pollution tolerant, and the scuds were not found in great numbers. No pollution sensitive organisms were found. This is problematic as it is further evidence that fish populations are suffering due to poor water quality conditions. Water Watch will conduct additional regular BATS analyses to gather more information.