Location of the Great Swamp: Teacher's Guide

TO DO

Make photocopies of the black and white version of the Great Swamp watershed map (Appendix 3) and ask students to locate their "watershed address." If they live or go to school in the Great Swamp watershed, have them locate the sub-watershed (there are 5) they live in, go to school in, attend church in, etc. Students who do not live in the Great swamp watershed can learn their watershed address by visiting the NJ DEP web-site at http://www.state.nj.us/
dep/watershedmgt/.

4. Location Of The Great Swamp Watershed

The Great Swamp watershed is located in north central New Jersey, approximately 25 miles west of Times Square in southeastern Morris County and northeastern Somerset County. The 7,580 acre Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge lies at the lowest elevations of the watershed, and is roughly 3 miles wide by 7 miles long. Many people equate the Refuge with the watershed, however, as defined above, a watershed is the entire land area that drains to a common body of water. The Great Swamp watershed covers 55 square miles, or roughly 35,000 acres and includes parts of ten different municipalities. It measures roughly 8.6 miles south from Morristown to Long Hill Township, and roughly 7.8 miles east from Bernardsville Borough to Madison Borough. Thus, although the physical area of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge is saved (as permanently protected open space), it is certainly not safe from the many pollutants that enter the swamp from the land areas surrounding it.

Map Showing GSW Location

TO DO

Ask students to find out how much the population of their town has grown since 1950. How might the increase in the population of the towns affect the Great Swamp watershed?

Have students find out what their town is doing to protect the Great Swamp watershed by calling the Ten Towns Committee at 973.984.2235.

Towns in the Great Swamp Watershed

The following towns are located partially or wholly within the Great Swamp watershed:

Municipality	Population (1998)	County	Square miles	Percent in Watershed
Bernards Township	22,092	Somerset	23.99	24%
Bernardsville Borough	7,085	Somerset	12.94	28%
Chatham Township	9,869	Morris	9.34	81%
Harding Township	3,857	Morris	20.42	98%
Long Hill Township	8,032	Morris	12.07	53%
Madison Borough	15,828	Morris	4.19	24%
Mendham Borough	4,988	Morris	6.02	21%
Mendham Township	5,190	Morris	17.86	17%
Morris Township	22,048	Morris	15.78	28%
Morristown	16,629	Morris	2.94	31%

10 Towns Logo

Under the auspices of the Morris County leadership group, Morris 2000, these ten towns have formed the Ten Towns Great Swamp Watershed Management Committee. The goal of the Ten Towns Committee is to encourage the adoption of effective land use ordinances that preserve the Great Swamp's water quality and quantity, diversity of plant and animal life, and opportunities for recreation. Meetings of the group are open to the public.