RIVERPALOOZA!

This year at OCC we educated over 600 students in local schools about what they can do to protect NJ Water.  We also had over 300 volunteers participate in our clean up events. Thank you once again for all of your work and we are looking forward to working with you next semester!

Earth Day was a huge success!

157 volunteers from 10 community groups came together for our annual clean up of Long Swamp Creek. Water Watch interns Cory Speiser, Leslie Brooks, and Matthew Buenvenida were presented with a "Guardians of our Water Ways" plaque from Ocean County Freeholder Joseph Vicari.

Toms River Times Write Up

The Viking Write Up

Rebecca Donatelli

Background of Ocean County Water Watch

The majority of Ocean County makes up the Barnegat Bay Watershed. The Barnegat Bay is an estuary, a mixture of saltwater from the Atlantic Ocean and freshwater from other water sources. It is one of only 28 nationally recognized estuaries. Due to the population rate, an increased rate of land development, and the dependence on beach tourism, non-point source pollution has taken its toll on the water sources in the area.

Ocean County is also the home to two Superfund sites identified by the EPA, which have put dangerous toxins into the water. Toms River has been the site of cancer clusters that are potentially linked to toxic contamination. There has also been speculation over the impact of the Ciba-Geigy Superfund site on the drinking water.

Ocean County has been noted as one of the fastest growing regions in the state. This population doubles in the summer during the tourist season. With increased population comes increased water demand. In addition, Ocean County has the highest average use of water per person per day in the state, making this an even bigger issue for the local community. The majority of the county's drinking water comes from groundwater, and heavy water usage reduces the amount of water flowing into Barnegat Bay. This can cause the Bay to become too salty to maintain certain species. Several towns are also having to seek out replacement water sources because they've drained their own groundwater, including Seaside Heights and Point Pleasant Beach. As development increases and development paves over more of the county with impervious surfaces, water is prevented from soaking into the ground, preventing groundwater supplies from being replenished.

OCC Water Watch Activities
OCC Water Watch volunteers work in a variety of areas to educate and serve the community. NJ Community Water Watch has been working in Ocean County since 1997. We have educated thousands of K-12 students, participated in multiple cleanups, monitored local streams and worked with a variety of community and environmental organizations to protect the quality of water in the Barnegat Bay watershed and its habitat.

Water Watch works to educate community members and students about non-point source pollution, its effect on the habitat, and the personal health impacts. Water Watch also educates the public about Barnegat Bay and its problems in order to create awareness and motivate change within the local community.

In addition, Water Watch cleans up Seaside Heights in conjunction with Clean Ocean Action's Annual Beach Sweeps each fall and spring.  A new site was just started in spring of 08; it is located on the South side of RT. 35, right on the Barnegat Bay!

Local Waterways
OCC Water Watch has done considerable work on Kettle Creek. This includes a project presentation that was preformed to the residents of Holiday City in May of 08.  This project presentation focused on comparing the biological. and visual data, which were recieved by performing the appropriate assessmets of a developed water way (Kettle Creek), to an undeveloped water way (Cedar Creek).

The creek runs through Holiday City, a major senior citizen development, underneath a heavily populated roadway and near business districts. As a result, the biology of the waterway is impaired.  Volunteers have also worked on the creek by educating local residents and businesses of the effects that non-point source pollution has had on the waterway and discussing management strategies with the residents. We also worked and will hopefully continue to work with them on improving the buffer zone to decrease the flow of non-point source pollution from roadways and businesses.  A couple years ago, Water Watch also researched ways to prevent the nearby Dover Township Landfill from polluting the waterway.

The Long Swamp Creek has been the focus of Water Watch projects since 2005. The creek is a 7.5 mile sub-watershed located entirely in Toms River.  It runs from the Garden State Parkway through the Bey Lea Golf Course, past the Ocean County Mall, through the backyards of residents living on Brookside Drive, under Route 37, and empties into the Toms River. It has been identified as a high priority impaired stream by the DEP. The creek was the subject of a township-commissioned study completed by the Birdsall Engineering environmental consulting firm. The creek suffers from non-point source pollution and a lack of buffer zones. In some areas, it has become a dumping ground for local residents. OCC Water Watch has completing a visual survey of the creek, performing both biological and chemical tests, restoring the creek's buffer zones.  An annual Earth Day cleanup of the creek has also been going on since 2006.  Water Watch has been joining efforts with the Ocean County Sierra Club with hopes to keep improving this water way.  This past Earth Day, 2008, we had about 115 people attend!

Clean-ups
OCC Water Watch has successfully cleaned up multiple streams throughout the county over the years. This past year, 2008, cleanup sites include:  Two throughout Ocean County College, the Long Swamp Creek, and two Barnegat Bay locations!

Education
Ocean County Water Watch has developed a strong educational program that reaches out to the local elementary and high schools, as well as to local youth groups. Water Watch utilizes the Project Wet curriculum to teach lessons and address local water quality problems.

Community Outreach
Ocean County Water Watch's coalition partners include Ocean County College, Ocean County Vocational Technical School's MATES program, Clean Ocean Action, OC Soil Conservation District, Forest Resource and Education Center, and the Barnegat Bay Estuary Program, who have just recently started housing the Ocean County Chapter of NJ Community Water Watch.