State Proposes New Roles for Watershed Management

In the New Jersey Register published July 3, 2000, New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) proposed to repeal the current Water Quality and Watershed Management rules and implement new ones. (The proposed new rules are accessible on NJDEP’s Web Site at: nj.us/dep/watershedmgt/ wmp.)

These new rules will dramatically change how the state grants permits for wastewater management and guides watershed-management planning. Today, such permits and planning address only "point source pollution" – that is, pollution from specific source like factories or sewage-treatment plants. Tomorrow, if the new rules are implemented, "non-point source pollution" – pollution from stormwater runoff, for example – will also be factored into state decisions and guidelines.

One reason for the proposed rule change: 85% of New Jersey’s streams, rivers, lakes and ponds are not considered "fishable, drinkable or swimmable," essential goals of the federal Clean Water Act – and non-point source pollution today is recognized as a major reason.

The proposed rules are sweeping and extremely complex, and have been in the making for over two years. Stakeholders’ meetings have been conducted by NJDEP during that time, and every interest group was encouraged to participate. Some did openly; others did, but unfortunately from behind the scenes – and the final product is significantly different from an earlier draft presented by NJDEP at its final stakeholders’ meeting. Put bluntly, it contains implementation guidelines that appear to seriously undermine some very admirable environmental goals.

By this September, NJDEP has pledged to have stakeholder groups working on watershed management plans in all 20 of New Jersey’s newly defined watershed management areas. The Great Swamp watershed is part of Watershed Management Area #6, as are the Whippany and Rockaway watersheds; the three watersheds comprise the headwaters of the Passaic River. Watershed Management Area #6's Public Advisory Committee and sub-committees were the first in the state to begin work on a watershed management plan, and have been working now for more than two years – beginning long before the final rule proposal was announced.

The new rules will govern what these watershed management plans must address, and may include issues such as pollutant levels in the surface and ground waters of the Upper Passaic River watershed, water supply decisions (believe it or not, there is the potential for a future water supply deficit in our watershed), open space protection recommendations, and issues with profound municipal zoning implications.

This watershed stakeholder process creates the potential for substantial grassroots input into how we wish our landscape to appear in the future, how free of pollutants we wish our water to be, and where we wish to concentrate our state-funded efforts to preserve open space. Also, for the first time, the rules attempt to link to the State Development and Redevelopment Plan’s state-permit decisions for infrastructure, such as sewer lines and new roads. The theory is that permits in already-developed communities will be simpler (i.e., less expensive) to obtain than those needed for development in environmentally sensitive or rural areas, thus discouraging New Jersey’s exploding sprawl and encouraging redevelopment of our cities.